The 2025 International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) was officially launched at the ICA Global Cooperative Conference and General Assembly, in New Delhi, India — and your Neighboring Food Co-ops were there!
The gathering, organized by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and hosted by IFFCO, attracted delegates from over 100 countries under the theme, “Co-ops Build Prosperity for All,” and focusing on four conference pillars: Reaffirming the Co-operative Identity, Enabling Supportive Policies, Developing Strong Leadership, and Building a Sustainable Future. The dialog included more than 100 speakers, including representatives from the United Nations, government officials, scholars and activists, and co-operators from around the world as the co-operative movement celebrated the launch of the second International Year of Co-ops in 2025.
Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) Executive Director Erbin Crowell was in attendance, representing our member co-ops as well as the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA CLUSA) and DotCooperation. Crowell also serves on the Co-operative Identity Advisory Group (CIAG), which submitted its recommendations to the ICA General Assembly on “Articulating, Living, Communicating, and Protecting” the Identity after a multiyear, international consultation with the movement. At the Assembly, delegates approved the resolution and called for a Congress to be convened to continue the dialog.
In the context of the conference goal of enabling supportive policies for co-operative development, Crowell was also invited to serve on a panel on “Living our Co-operative Identity,” where he made the case for protecting Co-operative Principles in law. Specifically, he pointed to the importance of ensuring that membership in co-ops continues to be reserved for users of the business — consumers, workers, and producers — as opposed to investors or external organizations, as described in the Identity and international law.
“Organizations live according to the rules and regulations that they are provided, and one of the challenges that we have is the degree to which the Identity is visible and enacted within law,” said Crowell. If co-operative businesses “are not doing what we say we do, if we’re not living by our values, we may squander the trust we have built up over generations.”
The dialog on the importance of protecting the Co-operative Identity in government policy was continued at a meeting of the ICA Co-operative Law Committee, where legal scholars from around the world discussed current legal issues such as the Uniform Limited Cooperative Association Act. Thanks to the work of the ICA, Co-operative Principles are recognized in international law and documents such as the UN International Labor Organization (ILO) Recommendation 193 on the Promotion of Co-operatives.
A high point of the conference was a keynote address by India’s Prime Minister, H.E. Narendra Modi, attended by 3,000 participants from around the world, in which he highlighted the important role co-ops play in his country.
“For India, co-ops are a way of life,” he said. “For the whole world, co-operatives are a business model, but at the same time, co-operation is the basis of our culture. It is a lifestyle.” The Prime Minister described how the partnership between the Government of India and co-ops was key to sustainable growth, and how this growth “should be seen in a human-centric way.”
Prime Minister Modi also thanked the UN for declaring 2025 as the International Year of Co-ops. “In this Year of Co-operatives we will empower this co-operative spirit. We will move forward with this co-operative spirit and we will be empowered, we will be prosperous,” he concluded.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the conference via video message: “Co-operatives like the ones you represent demonstrate the importance of standing together to forge solutions to global challenges,” he said. He also spoke about the crucial role of co-operatives in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, especially in light of the upcoming Second World Summit on Social Development.
Also at the conference, DotCooperation launched its “Cooperative World Map” as part of the effort to increase awareness of the global co-operative movement in the coming year. The map will give co-ops unprecedented visibility on a global scale, showcasing our collective impact and reach, and supporting advocacy and collaboration among co-operatives.
The NFCA’s historic focus on the Co-operative Identity – living, communicating, and protecting our Values and Principles – is particularly relevant to this moment, and we’re looking forward to 2025 and the opportunity presented by the second International Year of Co-ops to continue to work together for a more just, sustainable, and inclusive future.
For more information on the United Nations International Year of Co-ops, please visit: https://nfca.coop/IYC.