Cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. As per cooperative principle seven on concern for community, they work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.
The cooperative movement in Kenya launched an initiative to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic providing relief to 500,000 vulnerable households. Dubbed ‘Co-ops care’, the initiative is spearheaded by a newly established Co-operative Coronavirus Response Committee (CCRC) that has raised over 112,602 USD in contributions from more than 68 cooperative societies and 26 individual co-operators.
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Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (KUSCCO) - Woman receiving relief pack
Nagano Prefecture was hit by a heavy rain disaster in 2019. This picture shows the members of “Worker Coop Nagano” supporting local residents in their recovery activities.
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Japan Workers’ Cooperative Union (JWCU) - People cleaning and rebuilding
The food coop Dobrze is committed to revamp the sense of community in the heart of Warsaw, Poland.
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Aroundtheworld.coop - Group of people in the forest
About 15 volunteer line workers from American electric cooperatives traveled Dos de Junio and El Torito in rural Bolivia to bring electricity. They constructed power lines and wired homes.
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NRECA International - Villagers showing messages of gratitude
Knowledge gives more cotton and better pay. In Zambia, 250,000 cotton growers have increased their harvest by 60 percent since 2009, and thanks to more money from cotton, children go to school and they do not have to worry about food.
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We Effect. Photographer: Cecilia Abrahamsson - Cotton growers in group holding reading material
In several villages outside Batticaloa in Sri Lanka, cooperatives run preschools, which enables more women to support their families. The village cooperatives in the area have, among other things, been trained in cooking, marketing and animal husbandry.
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We Effect. Photographer: Anders Hansson