The United Nations declares 2025 as International Year of Cooperatives
After the success in 2012 of the first International Year of Cooperatives, the UN has declared 2025 as a second opportunity to review the role of cooperatives in society.
The United Nations has declared 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives, in a new resolution that joins those recently adopted with the aim of promoting social economy and enterprise models, such as cooperatives, which contribute to progress towards the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Once again, it recognises the significant impact that cooperative enterprises have on economic and social development, especially in terms of job creation, social integration and poverty reduction.
Promoting the cooperative economic model
After the successful first International Year of Cooperatives in 2012, the UN calls on member states to use 2025 to promote the cooperative economic model and to raise public awareness of its contribution to sustainable development.
The resolution also encourages states to analyse good practices and consult with cooperatives on existing legislation and public policies in order to ensure that the national legal and regulatory environment is the most supportive to the creation and growth of cooperatives, by improving existing laws and regulations or enacting new ones, especially with regard to access to finance, autonomy, competitiveness and taxation.
