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The theme for the 2016 International Day of Cooperatives (IDC) is ‘Cooperatives: The power to act for a sustainable future’.
The slogan coincides with the theme of implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to which the cooperative movement has pledged its commitment. It also echoes the slogan of the 2016 International Summit of Cooperatives, which will take place in October 2016 and address cooperative engagement in SDG achievement.
In September 2015, the UN Member States adopted a 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, containing the seventeen SDGs. In paragraphs 41 and 67 of the outcome document, cooperatives are acknowledged within the private sector as important actors in implementing the Agenda. Cooperatives are similarly mentioned in paragraphs 13, 35 and 39 of the Financing for Development outcome document adopted in August 2015.
Given this unprecedented recognition of cooperatives in UN development policy, COPAC will support the engagement of cooperatives in the implementation of the SDGs by promoting their contributions during the 2016 IDC, which will take place on 2nd July 2016. The IDC is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of July, as detailed in the 1992 resolution 47/90 of the United Nations.
