Improved statistics will strengthen global cooperative movement

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AN international conference has explored ways that more robust and consistent statistical measures can shape better policies and interventions for cooperatives and help their contribution to sustainable development be properly recognised.

The international conference on statistics of cooperatives on measuring cooperatives and beyond, looked at ways to improve and harmonise statistical methods so that they can support better policies and decision-making related to cooperatives, while taking account of diversity in national practices and circumstances.

Delegates at the conference emphasised the importance of internationally consistent and reliable standards for statistics of cooperatives that would allow their socioeconomic impact and contribution to sustainable development to be properly recognized.

It is expected that the conference’s outputs will feed into customised national action plans. These will include specific steps, methodologies and capacity-building measures related to the collection, analysis and dissemination of statistics on cooperatives. The number and types of cooperatives, members, employees and the overall economic contribution of cooperatives are among the data priorities.

The conference showcased the findings of the ILO’s initiatives on advancing the guidelines concerning statistics of cooperatives, funded by the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labour. National researchers from Costa Rica, Italy, Korea, Tanzania and Türkiye, presented analysis of the use and availability of statistics in each country, compared to the ILO’s guidelines concerning statistics of cooperatives.

Recommendations made through the initiative will feed into a manual concerning statistics of cooperatives that will cover practices for collecting, analysing and disseminating statistics.

By establishing a robust framework and standardised approach, the manual will facilitate improved data collection, comparability and understanding of cooperatives’ socioeconomic impact at international level. The finalised manual is expected to be presented at the 2028 International Conference of Labour Statisticians.

In an opening remark at the conference, Rie Vejs-Kjeldgaard, Director of the ILO’s Sustainable Enterprises Department, emphasised the important role of comprehensive statistics in shaping policies that would create a more conducive environment for cooperatives.

Delegates were also addressed by Seongkweun Lee, Vice Mayor for Economic Affairs of Busan City; Youngkwi Yun, Director of the Sustainable Economy Division at the Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance; Hyungon Jung, President of the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency and Ariel Guarco, Director-General of the International Cooperative Alliance.

The conference, hosted by ILO, was held at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre in Korea on June 30. The hybrid event was organised in coordination with the Korea’s fifth Social Economy Fair, being held from June 30 to July 2 in Busan, Korea.

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