The International Raiffeisen Union (IRU) is a worldwide voluntary association of national co-operative organizations which work and ideas are based on Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen's principles - i.e. self-help, self-responsibility and self-administration. IRU was founded in 1968 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen's birth and has today 73 members in 41 countries.

IRU has the purpose of cultivating Raiffeisen's ideas, of propagating them openly and before all of bringing about the exchange of experiences between member organizations.

The diffusion of Raiffeisen's idea is worldwide. More than 900,000 co-operatives with approx. 500 million members in over 100 countries are working according to Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen's principles.

IRU does not carry out any commercial activity nor does it serve any politico-econ-omic interest or competes with other existing international organizations.