PROMOTING COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT
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PromoCoop

30 June 2021

Message on the 99th International Day of Cooperatives - 3 July 2021 - "Rebuilding Better Together"

As the global Covid-19 pandemic recedes and life slowly gets back to normal, it’s time to start recovering from its deep negative economic and social impacts.

Cooperatives have an important role to play in rebuilding a better world, not just the same as it was before, given their values and principles, and they will certainly do so in many sectors of the economy, complementing their entrepreneurial activity with social and environmental actions.

On this 99th International Day of Cooperatives, PromoCoop joins the worldwide celebration recalling that cooperatives can rebuild better together. Many examples of these actions will be publicly available during this celebration, as cooperatives take this opportunity to showcase their initiatives and best practices.

While it is unquestionable the significant role that cooperatives have, it’s important to highlight that their contribution can be more effective if they join forces and work together, as the motto of this year’s International Day alludes to.

Therefore, cooperatives should take this opportunity to further implement the 6th cooperative principle of cooperation among cooperatives, because it is by working together that they can "serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement".

They can do this by looking at potential areas of technical and commercial collaboration, as well as joint communication and advocacy campaigns through their representative structures. PromoCoop has been working with cooperatives helping them identify and put in place this type of opportunities, believing that it’s by working together that the enormous potential of cooperation can be unleashed.

But the global pandemic has created several challenges to cooperatives as well and, in some cases, has severely hampered their operational capacity, particularly in sectors where face-to-face contact is necessary and social distancing is not possible. Cooperatives will need to recognize changes that have become permanent and the additional ones that the future will bring so that they can adapt and adjust to these new circumstances. It would be a mistake to believe that things will eventually go back to the way they were.

The same should be said about the use of new technologies and the need to a different type of contact with customers and members, a pillar of the cooperative model. Cooperatives must invest more in new technologies and find innovative ways, not only to do business, but to keep a closer link with members and clients.

Additionally, it is important to remember that to build better together, cooperatives have outstanding challenges that they need to overcome such as increasing the engagement of members, strengthen their public image and visibility by working closer with mainstream media, develop an offer of products and services that effectively meets the needs of their members, and engage more women and youth, particularly in governing and managing structures.

PromoCoop believes in the extraordinary capacity of cooperatives to (re)build better together, while recognizing the challenges that the movement still faces. The cooperative values and principles can be a strong foundation for a post-pandemic society and cooperatives have a good opportunity to deliver, in words and actions, the sustainable future that humanity needs.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of PromoCoop and its partners.

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