On 5 November, the draft resolution on Cooperatives in Social Development initiated by Mongolia had received a unanimous support and been adopted at 43rd meeting of the Third Committee of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly.  

The resolution underlines the important link between cooperatives and sustainable development, especially social inclusion, employment creation, poverty eradication and peace-building.

Along with its insightful paragraphs, the resolution invites Governments to strengthen efforts to enhance food security and nutrition and focus efforts on smallholders and women farmers, as well as on agricultural cooperatives and farmers’ networks, supported by improving access to markets, enabling domestic and international environments, and strengthened collaboration across the many initiatives of these areas, including regional initiatives, as declared in Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference of Financing for Development. It also draws the attention of Governments to review existing legislation concerning cooperatives and create a supportive environment for the development of cooperatives, integrating the cooperative values, principles and business models into educational programming, including school curricula as appropriate, providing assistance for human resources development of cooperatives.

As cooperatives remain a powerful economic and social force possessing proven advantages of resilience and sustainability in the aftermath of the global financial and economic crisis, the resolution enjoyed co-sponsorship of 77 Member States.