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Global advocacy

The International Cooperative Alliance advances the interests of the cooperative movement through work with international policymakers.

Our advocacy work helps create a more supportive political, legal and regulatory environment in which cooperatives can thrive.

How we engage

At the United Nations, the ICA participates in high-level discussions of relevance to cooperatives through its consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which it has had since 1946, the first non-governmental organisation to do so.

The ICA also has individual partnership agreements with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and participates in the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy.

Since 1971, the ICA has been a founding member of the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), a multi-stakeholder partnership of global public and private institutions that promotes and advocates for people-centred, self-sustaining cooperative enterprises, guided by the principles of economic, social and environmental sustainable development. 

Discover more about COPAC

What we ask of world leaders

From its work with the United Nations and its agencies, the ICA has two key messages to convey:

  • Cooperative enterprises are important drivers of sustainable and inclusive development and growth.
  • The policy and regulatory environment should be conducive to the establishment and development of cooperative enterprises, which help create economic opportunities for all people, including the world’s poor, youth, women, smallholder producers, and entrepreneurs.

In taking up the call to action of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the ICA also promotes the contributions of cooperative enterprises to the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), showcasing the work of cooperatives through Cooperatives for 2030, a platform for cooperatives to learn about the SDGs, make pledges to achieve them and report their progress.

How do cooperatives advance the SDGs?

Here are a few examples:

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SDG1 - Poverty eradication: Cooperatives allow people to help themselves by creating their own economic opportunities.
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SDG2 - Zero hunger: Agriculture cooperatives help their smallholder producer-members access inputs, infrastructure, markets, better prices, training and technologies, through the power of the collective.
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SDG5 - Gender equality: With open and voluntary membership as one their founding principles, cooperatives help women access resources and opportunities by expanding their participation in local and national economies.
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SDG8 - Decent work and economic growth: Being focused on human needs, cooperatives have proven to be resilient, and even recorded growth, in times of crisis. They are also a source of decent employment for many people around the world and increase inclusi