News, stories and statements on cooperatives
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Statement
Co-operatives Make a Better World: Remarks by Mr José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs
06 July 2012
Remarks by Mr José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Director, Employment Sector, ILO, at the Ministerial Breakfast on “Promoting productive capacity for sustainable livelihoods: the role of cooperatives” at ECOSOC, New York, 5 July 2012
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Statement
"Cooperative enterprises build a better world" - Statement by ILO Director-General
06 July 2012
Message by Juan Somavia, Director-General of the ILO, on the occasion of the 90th ICA International Co-operative Day and the 18th UN International Day of Cooperatives.
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News
Cooperatives: Resilient to crises, key to sustainable growth
06 July 2012
In a message marking International Day of Cooperatives, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia salutes the approximately one billion people worldwide who are involved in cooperatives.
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Article
Turning waste fruit into a profitable business
05 July 2012
Cooperatives have played an important role in Indonesia by helping to boost growth, reduce poverty and promote social cohesion. As the world celebrates the UN International Day of Cooperatives, Gita Lingga reports on a successful project involving rural women in the Maluku islands.
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Article
Cooperatives show the way out of the crisis
04 July 2012
Cooperatives have been more resilient to the global economic and jobs crisis than other sectors. The UN International Day of Cooperatives, which takes place this year on 7 July, offers a chance for cooperatives to reassert their position in the world economy. ILO News interviews Simel Esim, Chief of the ILO’s Cooperative Branch.
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Article
Green and fair: Cooperatives in Ethiopia
19 June 2012
By their very nature, cooperatives can balance economic, environmental, and social needs. The ILO will be showcasing some of its successful experiences in this field at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). One of them involves more than 200,000 coffee producers and almost 200 cooperatives in Ethiopia.
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Article
From the depths of an African shantytown, a nascent youth employment movement grows
14 December 2011
In Africa’s second largest slum, youth unemployment is sky high. But cooperative projects are helping youth find work and slowly lift themselves out of poverty through such projects as raising food in community gardens, processing waste for bio-fuel or providing improved sanitation. Journalist Anne Holmes reports on how this emerging economic revival is making a small but significant dent in a major ongoing challenge.
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Statement
Statement by Juan Somavia to the General Assembly of the International Co-operative Alliance
17 November 2011
The biannual General Assembly of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) is being held from 15-18 November 2011 in Cancun, Mexico. On this occasion the global cooperative community also marked the launch of the UN International Year of Cooperatives. Through a video message, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia addressed the opening session of the gathering. Please find the text of the address below.
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Statement
Message from ILO Director-General, Juan Somavia, on the occasion of the launch of International Year of Cooperatives
31 October 2011
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News
UN launches Year of Cooperatives with spotlight on development
31 October 2011
New York, 31 October 2011 – U.N. News : The United Nations launched the International Year of Cooperatives with the General Assembly President underlining their role as catalysts of socially-inclusive development and capacity to empower communities through jobs and income generation.