SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES CONTRIBUTION OF COOPERATIVES TO GOALS OF DEVELOPMENT AND SOLIDARITY ON OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL DAY

Press Release
SG/SM/6275
OBV/8

SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES CONTRIBUTION OF COOPERATIVES TO GOALS OF DEVELOPMENT AND SOLIDARITY ON OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL DAY

Following is the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the occasion of the International Day of Cooperatives, which is observed on the first Saturday of July every year:

Millions of men and women have secured for themselves and their dependants a life of dignity, economic well-being and expanding opportunities by joining together in cooperative ventures throughout the world.

From its infancy in the nineteenth century, covering small numbers of consumers and producers in a narrow range of activities, the cooperative movement has become a major global endeavour embracing a multitude of activities, from financial services to home care, from agricultural production and marketing to the provision of utilities and affordable housing. An array of services, economic and social, are now available through cooperative ventures. Today, as governments at all levels find it increasingly difficult to meet the rising demands of their populations for services, a partnership with cooperative enterprises provides a demonstrably effective complement.

Above all, the cooperative is valued as an organization of people built on the principles of self-help, mutual support and self-management.

As an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise, the cooperative is playing an indispensable role also in facilitating the citizen's meaningful participation in the life of the community. Its contribution to strengthening the democratic tradition and promoting social integration is widely recognized and lauded.

The many-sided contribution that cooperatives make to the life of the community and to the goals of development and solidarity was explicitly recognized in the major global conferences convened by the United Nations in the past five years. The Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Summit for Social Development (6-12 March 1995) calls upon the cooperative movement to participate fully in the implementation of the Summit objectives, as well as in monitoring progress and evaluating results achieved. Governments are now also committed to fostering a climate favourable to the growth and development of participatory forms of organization of which the cooperative is a prominent example.

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