The International Co-operative Alliance is the global steward of the Statement on the Co-operative Identity - the Values and Principles of the co-operative movement - and is responsible for ensuring that the seven Principles that underpin co-operative enterprise can be appropriately interpreted. In that context, this document is long overdue.

In recent years, much to the delight of co-operators, the Principles have gained in recognition and acknowledgement around the world. They are now quoted in public policy documents, United Nations and International Labour Organisation texts, and are appended or integral to national legislation in many countries. When in 2011 the Americas Region of the Alliance proposed that consideration be given to amending the 7th Principle, the impact this would have globally became plain to see.

The debate in 2011 led us to recognise two things. Firstly, that a process for amending the Principles was required. We established the Principles Committee - a group of Alliance Directors and expert advisers appointed by the Alliance Board - to consider and advise on any future proposal to amend the Principles. The 2012 Extraordinary General Assembly agreed that process: a process that is lovingly wrapped in care and time for thought. It respects the importance of the Principles that have been the globally recognised core of co-operative philosophy since 1844.

Secondly, we recognised the need for more detailed updated guidance on the application of the Principles to the governance and operation of co-operatives in the 21st century, and tasked the Principles Committee with supervising its preparation. After three years of detailed and painstaking work by the Principles Committee, its expert advisors and the Editor - painstaking work that has engaged the diverse voices of co-operators around the world - I am delighted to present that guidance to you in these Guidance Notes. They are 'living' in that they are specifically intended to be kept up to date over time as societies change, environmental concerns evolve, and as commercial and financial regulation and demands ebb and flow. They allow co-operatives themselves to fully grasp just what it means to be a co-operative in the world in which they are now working. They also provide guidance to those who have the task of registering, regulating, or supervising co-operatives in the local, national, and regional economies of the world.

Co-operators believe that the people of the world should not be subjected to threat from the global economy, such as that of 2007. Furthermore, they believe that a more diversified and pluralistic global economy is one way of ensuring that any future threat of this sort will be minimised.

As part of its stewardship of the Statement on the Co-operative Identity, the Alliance is determined that a constructive and interactive dialogue should be encouraged between public authorities and co-operatives in support of that greater diversification through the healthy growth of co-operative enterprises at every level of the global economy.

We trust that this document will be the catalyst for this dialogue now and in the future.

Pauline Green,
President, International Co-operative Alliance