The role of cooperatives in job creation and local economic development is widely recognized. Cooperatives have a unique and special role in promoting sustainable economic growth, high-quality employment, decent work and social justice. This is because the cooperative ownership model and democratic governance principles ensure that the activities of cooperatives are driven by the needs of their members as workers, consumers, and members of society.
The cooperative model provides a means for producers, workers and consumers to address many of the challenges they face in the rapidly changing world of work and in society more generally. These challenges include demographic changes, aging, migration, climate change and the advances in technology that are impacting heavily on both the nature and organization of work. The areas in which the cooperative model is considered to have a particularly beneficial effect include but are not limited to:
- the transition from informal to formal economic activities and employment,
- growing inequality in terms of access to housing, services and well-paid employment, and
- the re-organization and flexibilization of work deriving, at least in part, from technological.
There are several studies and publications that provide evidence on both the potential and the achievements of cooperatives in addressing these challenges and in promoting equitable and sustainable growth as well as economic resilience and stability during crises. However, for full assessment to inform policy on the promotion and regulation of cooperatives and other types of enterprises, comprehensive statistical information is needed on the contribution and role of cooperatives in promoting:
- economic growth;
- economic resilience and stability;
- sustainable development, especially in agriculture;
- employment and decent work;
- transition from the informal to the formal economy;
- re-organization and flexibilization of work reflecting technological change and the future of work; and
- equitable and affordable access to housing, social and financial services.
The second global report on employment in cooperatives published by the International Organization of Industrial, Artisanal and Service Producer Cooperatives (CICOPA) in 2017 estimated that at least 279.4 million people were employed in or within the scope of cooperatives. That is more than 9 per cent of the world’s employed population (Eum 2017).
The ILO Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193) stresses the need to improve national statistics on cooperatives to help develop and implement policies to promote cooperatives. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development confirms the role of cooperatives as a means of implementation towards achieving the goals (UN 2015, para. 41).
SOURCE (click to read more): https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_emp/—emp_ent/—coop/documents/publication/wcms_858833.pdfÂ
