UN Holidays - International Day of Cooperatives

International Cooperative Day is celebrated every first Saturday in July. The date was approved by UN General Assembly resolution No. 47/90 of December 16, 1992. The British are considered to be the pioneers in the development of the cooperative movement, namely a group of weavers from Rochdale, through whose efforts the first consumer cooperative was founded in 1844. Fifty years later, the International Cooperative Union was created in London, which became a non-governmental organization that worked closely with the UN. In 1995, the centenary of the International Cooperative Association was celebrated. The holiday is celebrated by employees and members of various types of cooperatives: housing, dacha, agricultural, fishing, credit, even garage. He is also considered by shareholders, workers of consumer cooperation and veterans of this industry. Translated from Latin, cooperation means cooperation. Therefore, cooperation is characterized by such vital priorities as mutual assistance, solidarity, responsibility and justice. The celebration of International Cooperative Day aims to attract the attention of ordinary people to cooperatives, to show the role they play in strengthening partnerships between governmental and non-governmental organizations and the cooperative movement. Statistics show that cooperative communities are less likely to experience setbacks and business failures than ordinary corporations and small businesses. Their failure rate is 10% versus 60-80% for other forms of enterprises after the first year of operation. Like most international holidays, International Cooperative Day has its own motto, which identifies pressing issues for a particular year that need to be addressed and resolved. In many countries, thematic events are held to familiarize the population with information about the types and work of cooperatives and their importance to society. And among the cooperators themselves, a search is being carried out for the weak points of their professional activities, and a search for innovative solutions to eliminate them. Meetings of the heads of leading cooperatives are held, where discussions are held, the topics of which are unity and equality of opportunity in partnership practice and the activities of cooperatives, and ways of their implementation for the benefit of the entire world community.