The United Nations Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) co-hosted on 4 November the official closing ceremony of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025 (IYC 2025), as part of the UN World Summit on Social Development in Doha. Representatives from the global cooperative movement participated in the ceremony to mark the end of a year centered on the theme “Building a Better World.”
During the ceremony, the Director of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Charles Katoanga, along with Ariel Guarco, President of the ICA, announced a proposal for a new UN resolution to celebrate an International Year of Cooperatives every ten years. The proposal was welcomed by Bjørg Sandkjaer, UN Assistant Secretary-General, who attended the event.
Additionally, several government representatives participating in the event reaffirmed their commitment to the cooperative sector, including Monica Mutsvangwa, Minister of Women’s, Community and Small and Medium Enterprise Development of Zimbabwe; Javiera Toro, Minister of Social Development and Family of Chile; and David Obonyo, Commissioner for Cooperative Development of Kenya.
2025, a Year for Cooperativism
COPAC, which coordinated the International Year of Cooperatives 2025, has been responsible for amplifying the voice of cooperatives at national and international levels through knowledge exchange, policy dialogue, and advocacy, aiming to have cooperatives recognized not only as a historical force for social progress but also as a modern driver of sustainable development.
In this context, COPAC, in collaboration with the ICA, published a series of guidance notes illustrating cooperatives’ contribution to the SDGs through concrete examples from around the world.
The Summit Declaration
The event took place during the World Summit for Social Development, where member states adopted a political declaration recognizing cooperatives as leaders of the Social and Solidarity Economy. The declaration also mentioned their direct contribution to SDG 8 (decent work) and SDG 1 (no poverty), the two pillars of the summit. The declaration is based on the 2025 UN Secretary-General’s report on Cooperatives in Social Development, which called for stronger policies to support the cooperative movement and its growth.
ICA President Ariel Guarco concluded: “In times of environmental crisis, inequality, and global mistrust, our enterprises demonstrate that it is possible to produce and distribute wealth—without exclusion—care for the natural environment, and strengthen social bonds. That is why this closing is not a farewell: it is a renewal of commitment. And we can indeed conclude these days with renewed optimism, with the groundbreaking news of the imminent UN resolution to declare every decade an International Year of Cooperatives. Yes, dear colleagues, in 2035, 2045, and so on every ten years, we will once again have a celebration like this.”
