throughout history in times of crises
people around the world respond
spontaneously with collective action
based on values of solidarity and
cooperation in such moments the best in
human beings comes to do for mutual aid
care for others for family friends
neighbors and the international
community the unfolding kovit 19 crisis
has affected the world of work in
unprecedented ways cooperatives and
social and solidarity economy
institutions are responding decisively
in the face of this pandemic and its
aftermath financial cooperatives and
credit unions are providing liquidity
support to affected micro small and
medium enterprises solidarity funds and
crowdfunding initiatives to support
local businesses and vulnerable people
are being set up cooperatives
here in brazil they have been the front
liners of fighting for vid19 we have a
national movement of waste speakers and
they launched the solidarity campaign
they have been able to raise funds to
issue cash grants for
more than 15 000 members across brazil
producer and consumer cooperatives are
innovating quickly to keep supplies of
essential foods and goods moving many
are transforming their products and
services to meet urgent local needs for
protective equipment and social care
with the mandatory laptops informal
economy workers were among the first to
lose their livelihoods cooperatives and
other ssc institutions whose members are
informal economy workers have advocated
on their behalf and provided essential
assistance our artisan cooperatives have
at this time sold more than 500 000 mars
these are women who do exquisite
embroidery normally but they use their
sewing skills both to have livelihood
for themselves and of course to provide
this life-saving service of mars
cooperatives also use their
infrastructure and networks acting as
catalysts for cooperation in communities
connecting people in need of support
with local governments and volunteers
since cops have always served
members and communities we could quickly
identify their needs and support them
in italy so business workers are not so
well recognized by the state and so we
wrote a petition and in few days we
reached more than 47 000 signatures and
after three months we obtained from the
government an indemnity for
business workers
this pandemic crisis is sharpening
social divisions and deepening
inequalities in many places
at this historic moment it is crucial
that we deepen our commitment to social
justice
democracy and solidarity across our
societies
this commitment inherently is the very
foundation of cooperatives and wider ssc
institutions from their day-to-day
operations to their economic model
because they not only spread the impact
and benefits of cooperation among their
members workers and users they are also
effective partners in building more just
and resilient communities and economies
around the world
it is essential that cooperatives along
with other ssc institutions are involved
in the development of social and
economic policies not just during the
response and recovery around the covet
19 crisis but for the longer term in
rebuilding a more sustainable future
a better world is possible but we need
governments social partners cooperatives
and the wider social and solidarity
economy to work together
this way we have an opportunity to build
back
better
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