In 1995 the United Nations General Assembly officially established the first Saturday of July as the Cooperatives International Day.
Operating in different economic sectors worldwide, the cooperatives create quality jobs and promoting equality. The cooperatives business model is people-centered, and based on the cooperative values of selfhelp, democracy, solidarity and in the ethical values of social responsability.
These characteristics, along with the maintenance of financial capital in local communities, make cooperatives more resilient than other enterprises in times of crisis. According to UN data, more than 12% of the world’s population is a member of one of the 3 million cooperatives on the planet.
Another outstanding value of the cooperatives is the attention to the interests of their community, the fight against environmental degradation and climate change.
The main goal behind the celebration of this day is to promote the ideals of the cooperative movement such as international solidarity, economic efficiency and equity.