How was the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives for you and your organisation?
The 2025 International Year of Cooperatives was a period of intense and necessary visibility for our movement. For IHCO and the Fundación Espriu, it was a profound opportunity to showcase the indispensable role of health co-operatives.
We used the year to reinforce the message that health co-ops are not merely providers of services, but integral, resilient components of national health systems. We were able to demonstrate, through events like the Voluntary National Review (VNR) Lab and the World Social Summit, how our model contributes directly to Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing). We highlighted that health co-ops provide care to over a hundred million people worldwide, demonstrating our global scale and social impact.
For IHCO, the IYC 2025 allowed us to specifically illustrate that our democratic, people-centred governance leads to equitable, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare. We showed that reinvesting surpluses allows for continuous improvement in technology and capacity, especially in primary care and hospital management.
The year was defined by stronger co-operation among co-operatives, exemplified by my participation in the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) board and the CM50 leadership group. We worked to develop a unified message and a clear strategic plan for the coming years, ensuring that the momentum generated in 2025 would not be lost. The collective voice advocating for policy support for co-operatives was louder than ever.
In short, the IYC 2025 was a strategic success for raising awareness, confirming our value proposition, and building a strong foundation for future growth and policy advocacy.
What are your hopes for 2026?
As we move from the official closing of the International Year, my hopes are centred on translating the increased visibility into concrete, long-term policy and systemic change.
My primary hope is the full commitment and implementation of the ICA Strategy 2026-2030: Practice, Promote, Protect. This five-year roadmap is crucial. In 2026, we must practice our core co-operative values with integrity, promote the co-operative model as a solution for global challenges, and protect our shared identity and legal frameworks against erosion.
I expect to see the commitments made by governments during the IYC 2025, particularly at the World Social Summit, lead to tangible policy reforms in 2026. For the health sector, this means governments must increasingly recognise health co-operatives as a powerful partner in public-private models to strengthen and relieve pressure on public health systems.
We must secure supportive legislation that facilitates co-operative growth and financing to expand universal health coverage.
The co-operative movement must continue to address critical issues head-on in 2026: embracing new technologies is essential to enhance care quality and ensure the long-term viability of our enterprises; focusing on professional shortages, generational change, and continuous skills building to secure the future of our co-operatives; and continuing to position co-operatives as the business model best equipped to deliver on the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
