KAMPALA December 18, 2025— The global cooperative movement is entering a “new cycle of opportunity” after a landmark year of collaboration and growth, according to the President of the International Cooperative Alliance [ ICA ].
In an end-of-year message published on the ICA website on Tuesday, Ariel Guarco commended members across the world for their “committed, vigorous and devoted efforts” during what he described as a defining International Year of Cooperatives 2025.
Guarco said the past year had shown the power of collaboration across sectors, regions and cultures, strengthening the collective voice of cooperatives and extending their reach to communities worldwide.
“When organisations collaborate while expressing their unique identities and expertise, our collective voice becomes stronger,” he said, reaffirming the ICA’s role as “the global home for all cooperators”.
Guarco paid particular tribute to regional and sectoral organisations, committees and working groups, as well as staff in global and regional offices, whose work supported a busy programme of meetings, surveys, statements and projects throughout the year.
Looking ahead, he described 2025 as an “intense and ambitious” year that helped the movement reaffirm its priorities, strengthen its structures and demonstrate its readiness to address global social, economic and environmental challenges.
He also revealed that the ICA is expecting an announcement from the United Nations proposing the proclamation of another International Year of Cooperatives in 2035, with similar designations every ten years thereafter, a move he called a “historic recognition” and a major opportunity to further embed co-operativism in the global sustainable development agenda.
“Today, we can claim that this experience is not the end of a cycle, but the opening of a new one,” Guarco said.
Concluding his message, the ICA President said the achievements of the past year proved that co-operatives remain “the most direct and efficient vehicle” for building a sustainable, fair and peaceful world, crediting everyday cooperators for creating collective solutions where communities need them most.
He extended seasonal greetings to members and expressed hope that the movement would be “even more united and integrated” in the year ahead.
“Cooperation will enable us to keep on building together the better future we are all looking for, and that we all deserve,” he said.
https://thecooperator.news/ilo-ica-report-cooperatives-as-a-limited-profit-model/
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