• Under the motto “Rebuild better Together”, the ICA aims to give visibility to 3 million Cooperatives and the 1,000 million cooperative members around the world.
• To promote this message, the Cooperative Organizations that are part of CEPES have worked on a Declaration that highlights the role of this Social Economy business model that represents about 20,000 cooperatives, that generate more than 600,000 jobs and that have more than 10,000,000 of linked members.
• The president of CEPES recalls that “The Social Economy would not be understood without cooperatives, companies that involve a form of democratic and participatory organization and functioning, a basic social commitment inherent to the model, a way of producing and consuming sustainable, of decent and stable work, rooted in the territory, of equality, without ceasing to generate wealth, productive fabric and employment ”.
Madrid, July 2, 2021.- The Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES) supports once again the Declaration of the International Cooperative Alliance (ACI) on the occasion of the International Day of Cooperatives , which is celebrated this Saturday, 3 July under the slogan " Rebuild better Together".
The objective of this World Day is to give visibility to the 3 million cooperatives and the 1,000 million members in the world (12% of the world's population) . This year and in order to reinforce the ICA message, the Cooperative Organizations integrated in CEPES have worked on a Declaration that seeks to value the role of Spanish cooperatives, which has about 20,000 cooperatives, 600,000 jobs and in which they are more than 10,0000,000 people are linked.
The CEPES member partners who have worked on this Declaration and who have implemented joint and coordinated visibility actions are: AndalucíaESCoop, CCC, COCETA, CONCOVAL, CONCOVI, COOPERATIVAS Agro-Alimentarias de España, FECOMA, HISPACOOP, MONDRAGON, REAS AND UECOE.
The Declaration expresses the commitment of Spanish cooperatives in the reconstruction, improvement and transformation to achieve an economic recovery focused on the principles and values that govern this business model framed in the Social Economy.
Cooperation, solidarity, responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity are hallmarks of cooperatives, which allow building a fairer, more sustainable and people-centered economy.
For all these reasons, the eleven organizations highlight the importance of this business model and encourage the population to bet on cooperatives and cooperative enterprises, “producing, consuming and working, strengthening the social economy, making it greater, strengthening the feeling of community and sharing the efforts and rewards of greater widespread prosperity and well-being. "
The president of CEPES, Juan Antonio Pedreño , points out that “The Social Economy would not be understood without cooperatives, companies that involve a form of democratic and participatory organization and functioning, a basic social commitment inherent to the model, a way of producing and consume sustainable, decent and stable work, rooted in the territory, equality. They do all of this while continuing to generate wealth, productive fabric and employment, and are also suitable instruments for achieving the SDGs included in the 2030 Agenda ”.
Cooperatives are present in various fields, such as agriculture, livestock and food, health, education, industry, housing, commerce, consumption, social services, tourism, financial intermediation, energy or transport, with companies of all sizes leaders in their sector of activity.
INTERNATIONAL DAY
Cooperatives around the world have been celebrating Cooperative Day since 1923, but it was not until 1995, the year of the ICA's centenary, that the United Nations General Assembly officially proclaimed it as International Cooperative Day and established its celebration annually on the first Saturday of July.
Since 1995, ICA and the United Nations have established the theme for the celebration of #CoopsDay through the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) . This year marks the 27th edition of the International Day of Cooperatives since its recognition by the United Nations and the 99th edition of the International Day of Cooperatives since its first recorded celebration.
