The Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) is organising an event to commemorate Coops Day as part of the Voluntary National Review Lab (VNR Lab) hosted annually by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), during the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The event will take place on Thursday 7 July from 8 am to 9.30 am (New York time) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York online, reads a release.
The release adds “The Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), in collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the United Nations, is holding an International Day commemorative event as part of the Voluntary National Review (VNR) Labs organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.”
The event will focus on the contribution of cooperatives to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It will provide an opportunity for Member States to share good practices and present their national action plans in support of cooperatives to advance the Sustainable Development Goals. Countries that have included cooperatives in their VNRs will lead the discussions.
This year’s commemoration also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the International Day of Cooperatives, and the 10th anniversary of the UN International Year of Cooperatives.
The event will underscore the contributions of cooperatives to resolving the major problems
addressed by the United Nations and to strengthen and extend the partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other actors.
Broad consultations and multi-stakeholder participation are recognized as key conditions for a successful VNR process and critical in ensuring the implementation of plans after the VNRs presentation. Inclusiveness in VNRs is essential to the principles of leaving no one behind and integrated implementation of the SDGs. Inclusive processes empower citizens and build the capacities of civil society to take ownership and contribute to the review process.
Cooperatives represent at least 12% of people on earth who are members of any of the 3 million cooperatives worldwide. They play an important role in addressing the needs of their members and communities and in the process, they contribute towards the implementation of the SDGs. Therefore, it is important for the governments to include cooperatives in the VNRs consultations processes and recognize their effective contribution toward the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and their role in economic development at national level.
Therefore, the event aims to facilitate cross-regional learning of innovative approaches and examples of how inclusive stakeholder engagement in the VNR process can accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the country and regional levels. Drawing on examples from the regions, it will illustrate how inclusive VNRs can be instrumental in maintaining and increasing the level of ambition in VNRs reporting, heightening the impact of the VNRs, and supporting inclusive and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
Representatives of VNR participating countries, regional organizations and other stakeholders will be invited to exchange experiences and best practices and how they involve different stakeholders including cooperatives in the VNR consultation processes. In doing so, they will demonstrate how efforts to bring countries together at the regional level have been useful and will continue to be relevant in the context of the Decade of Action for Sustainable Development.
The International Day of Cooperatives 2022 is being celebrated under the theme, “Cooperatives Build a Better World.” The theme recognizes that the current predominant economic model will not achieve the sustainable development goals.
The United Nations Secretary General has repeatedly warned that the world is at an inflection point in history and the choices we make today can either lead to a breakdown of the global order, or a breakthrough for sustainable development.