In Rakai, a town in the Central Region of Uganda, more than 300 women produce jewellery made from recycled magazines. Many of the women are widows, many have been affected by HIV/AIDS, and many are mothers caring for multiple children. In a country that has been ravaged by war, these women are members of a worker co-operative, a business in which they own a stake.

This International Women’s Day, we’re reflecting on the power of the co-operative model to change the lives of women and girls around the globe, and calling on the government to promote co-operation and its potential on the world stage.

We know that co-operatives are stronger than other business models – they last longer, they’re more productive and, crucially, they’re owned and run democratically. It’s the uniqueness of the model that drives our movement to promote its importance here in the UK, where we are working with government to double the size of the co-operative and mutual sector and ensure growth is felt in communities. But it’s that same uniqueness that means the model has a vital role to play in economies across the world.

Countries suffering war or natural disaster often have their local economies completely wiped out. Often, efforts to rebuild those economies happen literally from the ground up. This, of course, presents huge challenges – but it should be seen as an opportunity as well, to build economies that are inclusive and sustainable, and that have the people most affected at their heart.

The power of the model is rooted in the fact that co-operatives are more than just businesses. For women around the world in particular, they are routes to enhanced education, to meaningful decision-making and leadership, to connections with other people that they wouldn’t otherwise make. These opportunities would be powerful for anyone, but for women and girls living in parts of the world where poverty, oppression and violence is the norm, they are transformational.

Research into women’s co-operatives in Nepal and Guatemala found that the model boosts women’s economic independence, their social capital and their levels of personal confidence and self-value. Being involved in a co-operative had made a tangible difference to their lives.

Organisations from the United Nations to the International Labour Organisation have repeatedly recommended that more be done to increase women’s participation in the co-operative movement. The impact of the model on women’s development, and on international development more broadly, is recognised on a global scale.

In the UN Year of Co-operatives, the focus of our co-operative movement is making the case for co-operation on the world stage. We believe co-operatives have the power to promote and sustain peace, to bring people together, foster gender equality and to build the inclusive economies needed. Rarely has there been a more important moment to promote the importance of international development. We believe co-operation – both the principle and the model – has a vital role to play in creating real change for the parts of the world that need it most.