The International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) is intended to raise public awareness of the invaluable contributions of cooperative enterprises to poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. The Year will also highlight the strengths of the cooperative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socioeconomic development.

Global Launch of the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC).

Speakers included Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA); Monique Leroux, Board Chair, President and CEO, Desjardins Group, Canada; Pauline Green, President, International Co-operative Alliance; and Piet Moerland, Chairman of the Executive Board of Rabobank, Netherlands.

On the occasion of the launch of the International Year of Cooperatives, a Side Event was co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).