Co-operatives around the world are organised in different structures.
The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) was founded in 1895. It is an independent, non-governmental organisation which unites, represents, and serves co-operatives worldwide. It is the largest non-governmental organisation in the world.
The Alliance has three components: a Central Office in Brussels, 4 Regional offices and 8 sectoral organisations.
a) ICA Regional Offices:
b) ICA Sectoral Organisations:
Euro Coop, the European Community of Consumer Co-operatives, which is a European sectoral organisation, provides the secretariat for CCW.
In addition, in Europe, co-operatives are organised in different sectors of activity. Euro Coop is the sectoral organisation for consumer co-operatives.
Other European sectoral organisations include: