Cooperatives Movement Gets Boost with International Year; New Logo

 

Represents Seven Democratic Business Principles

 

Leading up to the launch of the International Year of Cooperatives in October 2011, the United Nations has released the official logo of the year based on the slogan, “Cooperative enterprises build a better world”.

Cooperatives are member-owned, autonomous, self-help organizations that offer a business model that contributes to socio-economic development.  The cooperative sector, with nearly a billion members in 90 countries through the International Cooperative Alliance, a membership organization, is estimated to account for more than 100 million jobs worldwide.

The logo, available for non-commercial use by civil society, Governments and private entities, features people who are central to the cooperative model working together to lift a large cube.  The seven figures represent the seven principles of the cooperative movement: voluntary and open membership; democratic member control; member economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training and information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community.

The logo is available on the International Year of Cooperatives website at http://social.un.org/coopsyear in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.  To obtain permission to use the logo, please visit the website or contact the secretariat at coopsyear@un.org.  After you have received authorization, you will be able to download the logo, free of charge.

The United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution 64/136, declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives, in recognition of the contribution of cooperatives to socio-economic development, especially with regard to poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration.  The objectives of the Year are to expand public awareness of the role of cooperatives, particularly in relation to the fulfilment of internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals; encourage the growth of cooperatives worldwide; and establish a policy and legal environment conducive to the strength and stability of the cooperative movement.

For more information, please contact Astrid Hurley, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, tel: +1 347 292 9492, e-mail: coopsyear@un.org; or Vikram Sura, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel: +1 212 963 8274, e-mail: sura@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record