The event, which celebrated the UN’s 80thanniversary, took place at the Peace Palace
The ICA marked United Nations Day - the anniversary of the UN Charter taking effect in 1945 - with an International Symposium that positioned the ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity as a source of cooperative law. The Symposium was held on 24 October at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the home of the International Court of Justice, the Hague Academy of International Law and the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
The symposium was opened by ICA President Dr Ariel Guarco, who emphasised cooperatives’ role in driving peace and sustainable development as people-centred enterprises that promote solidarity, democracy and social responsibility. “The increasing harmony between cooperative and international law gives hope for advancing toward societies where cooperation drives decent work, gender equality, and environmental care,” he said.
In the opening session, Corrine Vargha, Head of International Labour Standards Department of the ILO, reflected on the importance of the ILO Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation (no. 193), which states that laws on cooperatives must be aligned with the cooperative principles as stated in the ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity.
“Respect for ILO standards is not just a legal obligation, it is a cornerstone of peace and shared prosperity,” she said, adding that cooperatives promote peace by fostering the participation of all sectors of societies.
Prof Anna Veneziano, Deputy Secretary General, International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), explained how cooperatives play an active role in building peace. UNIDROIT is developing a guide for collaborative legal structures in agriculture, which includes cooperatives, with the support of cooperative law experts Prof Hagen Henry, Prof Cynthia Giagnocavo and Prof Georg Miribung. She also acknowledged the institutional participation of the ICA, represented by its Legislation Director Santosh Kumar.
The Symposium’s keynote lecture was delivered by Judge Mahmoud Hmoud, member of the International Court of Justice, who reflected on the court’s contribution to peace through the provision of mechanisms for the peaceful settlements of disputes, and the promotion of universal values and human rights.
Thanking Judge Hmoud on behalf of the members of the ICA, Mr Abdel Fattah Al-Shalabi, Director General, Jordan Cooperative Council, emphasised the link between international law and sustainable development, describing how cooperatives are key to achieving peace in and through communities.
“In the cooperative movement we see ourselves as partners in achieving this,” he said, explaining the role of cooperatives in driving social justice and empowering communities in Jordan.
He was echoed by Prof Henry, Chair of the ICA Cooperative Law Committee, who pointed out that the Statement on the Cooperative Identity helps cooperatives contribute to sustainable development. Moreover, he added, sustainable development was established as a legal principle by the ICJ in 1997. Prof Henry, agreeing with Corrine Vargha, emphasised that national cooperative law should be aligned with the cooperative principles, which leave room for a variety of legal solutions.
Participants also heard reflections on cooperative enterprises in national law, with Ian Adderley from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority sharing his perspective on registering new cooperatives, and Osamu Nakano from the International Organization of Industrial and Service Cooperatives explaining how Japan’s adoption of new worker cooperative legislation have grown the sector. Hope Williams, Director of Legislative Advocacy, Sustainable Economies Law Centre, USA, also offered an insight in her organisation's advocacy, research and educational work, which transforms law from a barrier into a tool for liberation.
The Symposium also featured the launch of the CHI-ICA International Legal Research and Analysis Initiative on Housing Cooperatives. Tomasz Marzec, lawyer and scholar at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, highlighted that when the law clearly recognises the cooperative identity and aligns, finance, oversights, and data with that identity, housing cooperatives become an important pillar of the housing sector.
This research’s findings were further examined by a panel that emphasised the need for specific cooperative tenure-based legislation, supportive policies and access to finance to enable cooperatives to compete effectively with housing developers.
The symposium featured several other panel discussions, including one on education, which highlighted the need to integrate cooperative law into law degree programmes and introduce mechanisms that recognise the cooperative principles and have legal guarantees to apply them.
Another panel explored the harmonisation of cooperative laws with experts suggesting that harmonisation can support a common approach in other branches of law but it should not be confused with uniformity. Earlier in the opening session, Dr Rose Karimi, Regional Director, ICA Africa, provided an overview of the new Model Cooperative Law for Africa.
Cooperative capital, banking and taxation were also on the agenda, with a panel emphasising the need for a level playing field for cooperatives, proportionate regulation, consistent tax regimes and the avoidance of overregulation of cooperatives.
In a presentation on the Global Digital Compact and the UN Pact for Future by Dr Morshed Manan, Lecturer in Global Law and Digital Technology, Edinburgh Law School, explained how data or infrastructure cooperatives can provide solutions to many of the problems mentioned in the Pact.
Earlier in the month, Prof Henry and ICA Legislation Director, Mr Santosh Kumar, joined the ICJ proceedings on the Right to Strike, to share the movement’s perspective.
This was also discussed at the Symposium, with Ms Monica Viviana Tepfer, Legal Officer and Project Legal Coordinator, International Trade Union Confederation, explaining that ITUC believes the Right to Strike is protected under the ILO Convention No. 87, a view shared by the ICA.
A second ITUC campaign supported by the ICA calls for the regulation of the platform economy, which is now a step closer with a binding Convention and Recommendation set to be negotiated at the 2026 International Labour Conference.
The symposium also included a presentation on cultural heritage and the role of communities, with Ritika Khanna, Member, UNESCO Global Network of Facilitators for Intangible Cultural Heritage, calling for the recognition of cooperatives as legitimate partners in the management and safeguarding of world heritage and intangible cultural heritage.
Throughout the day, speakers highlighted the contribution of cooperatives to positive peace, emphasising that they are more than just an economic model.
“Peace must be built every single day together,” said Cooperatives Europe President Giuseppe Guerini. “We must be the movement that persistently encourages people to engage in dialogue, in seeking social justice and calling for peace.”
“Social justice is a very important component of peace – and that’s one of the most important elements of cooperatives’ work,” said Andrew Allimadi, Chair, COPAC. He explained that resolutions on cooperatives are among the most supported at the UN General Assembly, and announced that the International Year of Cooperatives Resolutions will be introduced every ten years to give the movement time to plan activities.
ICA Director General Jeroen Douglas closed the event by reaffirming the ICA’s role as a global authority on cooperative law and policy. He outlined new initiatives inspired by the symposium, including evidence-based sector reports, partnerships to build an expert network on law and public policy, and actions to position the ICA as a friend of governments and advance cooperative law revisions. He also announced that the ICA-led international symposium on cooperative law will now be held annually.
The full recording of the Symposium will be available shortly.
The ICA thanks ICBA for its role in making this event happen as a solidarity partner.
