Cooperatives General Assembly

The report outlines key policies and actions that can assist cooperatives in realizing their full potential for supporting Member States to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, including by providing decent jobs, advancing poverty eradication and promoting environmental sustainability. The report uses the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach as an analytical framework for reporting on the implementation of resolution 76/135 and providing guidelines that Member States may wish to adopt in supporting cooperatives as sustainable and successful business enterprises.

The report contains a review of the actions taken by cooperatives to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the opportunities for achieving sustainable development through cooperatives. The thematic section of the report covers legislative frameworks, including how in successive resolutions on cooperatives in social development, including 74/119, the Assembly has called on Governments to adopt laws or regulations that create an enabling environment for the development of cooperatives and that take into account the values-based identity of cooperatives. In addition, in its resolution 64/136, the Assembly declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives, and in successive resolutions thereafter encouraged Member States to continue to share the lessons and best practices from the International Year. The report examines the contributions cooperatives can make, in particular within the context of building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic and the forthcoming 10-year anniversary of the International Year.

The report contains a review of the role of cooperatives in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The contributions made by cooperatives to universal health coverage are given special attention, as the Assembly will hold a high-level meeting on the theme “Universal health coverage: moving together to build a healthier world ” in 2019. The role of cooperatives in promoting financial inclusion is also highlighted. The report includes an analysis of emerging issues and strategies for strengthening cooperatives in the light of the key challenges that they face in their pursuit of sustainable development for all, and it concludes with policy recommendations for the further advancement of cooperatives.