3 Jul 2025
e-MFP is excited to celebrate IYC2025 by showcasing through our dedicated blog series, the work and insights of our members who are either cooperatives themselves or collaborate with them as partners.
This year marks the International Year of Cooperatives, with the theme of "Cooperatives Build a Better World". This initiative aims to raise awareness about the invaluable contributions of cooperative enterprises in reducing poverty, generating employment, and promoting social integration. It also highlights the strengths of the cooperative business model as an effective approach to advancing socioeconomic development.
Cooperatives are businesses owned and democratically governed by their members — who may be workers, consumers, producers, or residents. Unlike investor-owned firms, cooperatives operate on the principle of one member, one vote, and exist to meet the shared needs of their members, not to maximise profit.
e-MFP is excited to celebrate during IYC by showcasing through our dedicated ongoing blog series, the work and insights of our members who are either cooperatives themselves or collaborate with them as partners. Inspired by the words of Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs: "to mobilize stakeholders to support and expand cooperatives everywhere, strengthening their contributions for a better world."
Following the call for proposals for EMW happening in November, we’ve received proposals for sessions on Cooperatives, and there will be a plenary too, so stay tuned for more details coming soon.
Blog Series:
Why Cooperatives Matter in Financial Inclusion: e-MFP during the International Year of Cooperatives, Sam Mendelson, e-MFP. April 2025.
Cooperatives: A Key Driver for MFIs to Improve the Livelihoods of Cocoa-Producing Communities, Armel Ouattara & Albert Dah from Advans Côte d'Ivoire, 27 May 2025.
Are Cooperatives Fit for Purpose in Accelerating a Sustainable Transition in Africa? Bart Speelman, BRS, 3 June 2025.
Strengthening Armenia’s Agricultural Cooperatives: Lessons from the Jinishian Memorial Foundation’s Two-Decade Journey, Gevorg Aboyan, Jinishian Memorial Foundation, 24 June 2025.
Listening, Learning, Improving: How Client Voices are Central to Bettering Cooperatives’ Outcomes, Oikocredit, 2 July 2025.
The Beauty and the Beast As One, Michaël de Groot, Rabo Rural Fund, 3 July 2025.
Cooperatives and Inclusive Insurance: Unlocking Protection for Low-Income Communities, 8 July 2025.