06/17/2026
We look forward to joining cooperatives around the world to celebrate under the theme “Cooperatives for a Peaceful World” on July 4.
We work to do our part in creating truly cooperative capital so that co-ops not just gain access to financing to start and grow, but to understand and direct capital to empower themselves.
From the International Cooperative Alliance: "At a time when conflict, displacement, social fragmentation, and declining trust are affecting communities across the globe, peace cannot be understood simply as the absence of violence.
Sustainable peace requires inclusion, participation, accountability, and opportunities for people to work together towards shared goals."
On 4 July, cooperatives around the world will celebrate under the theme “Cooperatives for a Peaceful World”.
At a time when conflict, displacement, social fragmentation, and declining trust are affecting communities across the globe, peace cannot be understood simply as the absence of violence. Sustainable peace requires inclusion, participation, accountability, and opportunities for people to work together towards shared goals.
This is where cooperatives make a difference.
As democratic, member-owned enterprises, cooperatives help build the foundations of what peace scholar Johan Galtung described as "positive peace": societies characterized by justice, inclusion, cooperation, and trust. Through democratic governance, shared ownership, and concern for community, cooperatives strengthen social cohesion, promote participation, and create pathways for peaceful and inclusive development.
The latest Policy Brief on Cooperative Contributions to SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, developed by COPAC and the ICA, highlights how cooperatives contribute to more peaceful and inclusive societies by:
• Strengthening democratic participation and accountable governance.
• Creating spaces for dialogue, reconciliation, and community cooperation.
• Addressing exclusion and inequality, key drivers of instability.
• Promoting transparency, collective oversight, and institutional trust.
• Supporting social cohesion in conflict-affected and fragile contexts.
• Empowering communities to participate in decisions that affect their lives.
From post-conflict reconciliation through agricultural cooperatives in , to the fight against gender-based violence led by cooperatives in ; from the resilience of women-led dairy cooperatives in , to the grassroots mobilisation of landless women in , the case studies in this Policy Brief show that peace is built not only through institutions, but through participation, solidarity, and collective action.
📘 Download the SDG 16 Policy Brief – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: https://ica.coop/en/media/library/iyc-sdg-briefs-sdg-16-peace-justice-and-strong-institutions
🙏 Thanks to our colleagues at International Cooperative Alliance-Africa, Coop Americas, International Co-operative Alliance-Asia and Pacific and Cooperatives Europe for their support in jointly developing this document.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) | United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) | International Labour Organization | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) | International Trade Centre | European Commission
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