On 24 October 2025, marking United Nations Day, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) organised the International Symposium on Cooperatives and International Law at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. The day-long event brought together jurists, legal scholars, policymakers, and cooperative leaders from around the world to examine how cooperative law can contribute to peace, social justice, and sustainable development.

The symposium was hosted by the ICA Committee on Cooperative Law in collaboration with the International Cooperative Banking Association (ICBA) and supported through the ICA-European Union (EU) Coop4dev Partnership. The discussions reflected a shared understanding that law remains a powerful yet underutilised instrument for advancing equality, inclusion, and cooperation in society.

Justice, Human Rights, and Cooperation

Opening the symposium, Judge Mahmoud Hmoud of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered a keynote address on the role of law in promoting peace and cooperation among nations. He observed that the ICJ’s contribution extends beyond settling disputes to strengthening the moral and legal foundations of the international community.

Judge Hmoud reaffirmed that peace cannot exist without justice, and justice cannot endure without respect for human rights and humanitarian principles. He stressed that sustainable development, human rights, and environmental protection are deeply interconnected and that cooperation among states and institutions is essential to protect life, dignity, and livelihoods. His remarks resonated strongly with the cooperative movement’s values of democracy, solidarity, and shared responsibility.

A Landmark Report on Cooperative Housing

A key highlight of the symposium was the launch of The Law on Cooperative Housing: Comparative Analysis of Legislation and Policy across Twenty Countries, the first report under the International Legal Research and Analysis Initiative (ILRAI). The study was coordinated by Cooperative Housing International (CHI) in partnership with the ICA and co-funded by the EU, marking a milestone in global cooperative legal research.

Authored by Mr. Tomasz Marzec of Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland) and Mr. Ajibola Akanji of Lead City University (Nigeria), and coordinated by Ms. Julie LaPalme and Mr. P. Santosh Kumar, the report provides the first comparative review of housing cooperative laws and policies across Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas.

Housing cooperatives embody a people-centred approach to affordable housing, transforming the aspiration for secure and dignified shelter into a collective effort rooted in solidarity rather than speculation. The ILRAI report identifies the legal and institutional conditions that allow such cooperatives to flourish, demonstrating that where national laws provide clear recognition and financial access, housing cooperatives thrive as sustainable and inclusive models of community ownership.

Asia-Pacific Perspectives and Key Findings

The report’s findings carry particular relevance for the Asia-Pacific region, where countries such as India, Indonesia, and Australia were part of the study. It reveals that while cooperative housing holds strong potential, its growth is constrained by several factors. These include the absence of dedicated housing cooperative legislation, fragmented regulatory oversight, limited access to concessional finance, and a lack of targeted tax incentives. The report also notes that data collection and public awareness remain weak, making the sector less visible in national policy debates. Yet, the region offers promising examples: India’s Safalya Cooperative Housing Society shows how transparency and sound governance can sustain affordable housing; Indonesia’s Kampung Susun Akuarium demonstrates how community-driven projects can succeed with government support; and Australia’s state-level models, especially in Victoria, show how integrating cooperatives into public housing schemes enhances reach and accountability. The ILRAI study concludes that addressing these gaps through tailored legislation, coordinated financial support, and improved data systems could unlock the region’s vast potential for cooperative housing, aligning to treat housing as a human right and a foundation for sustainable development.

Regional Perspectives on Harmonisation of Laws

The afternoon panel on Regional Harmonisation of Cooperative Laws, moderated by Professor Hagen Henry, Chairperson of the ICA Committee on Cooperative Law, brought together speakers from the ICA’s regional offices in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Pacific, and Europe.

Representing the ICA Asia and Pacific (ICA-AP), Mr. Naveen Kumar Singh, Program Officer (Research), joined the discussion to share insights from the ongoing Legal Framework Analysis (LFA) initiative. Drawing from the LFA 1.0 study conducted under the ICA–EU Partnership Phase 1 (2016 to 2021), he reflected on how the analysis continues to serve as a diagnostic and policy reference tool across the region.

Mr. Singh explained that harmonisation in Asia and the Pacific is advancing through shared principles rather than uniform statutes, guided by the cooperative identity and principles of the ICA. He cited experiences from India and Australia, where aligning cooperative laws across states has improved regulatory efficiency and business coordination, as well as ongoing peer-learning efforts among ASEAN Cooperative Organisation (ACO) members and the Pacific Islands Cooperative Network (PICON).

He also mentioned ICA-AP’s active engagement with the Government of Fiji, where consultations are helping modernise the national cooperative law to ensure that it reflects both local realities and international best practices.

Building a Global Framework for Cooperative Law

Other sessions at the symposium addressed themes such as cooperative education, taxation, and digital economy regulation. Participants agreed that legal reform must keep pace with emerging cooperative forms, including platform cooperatives and green enterprises. ICA will continue to coordinate comparative legal research and support global peer learning through thematic reports and legal forums.