REPRESENTATIVES of around 30 governments from across all United Nations regional groups took part in the launch meeting of the Group of Friends on the Social and Solidarity Economy at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva on 11 June 2026. The meeting was convened by the Governments of Brazil, Colombia and Spain, hosted by the ILO and held as a contribution to the Global Coalition for Social Justice. It was opened by the ILO as Chair of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy.
The Group of Friends provides interested governments with a voluntary platform for intergovernmental cooperation on the social and solidarity economy. It is intended to support exchange of experience, cooperation and follow-up in relevant multilateral processes, with a view to promoting the contribution of the social and solidarity economy to decent work, sustainable development and social justice.
Ministers from Barbados, Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Senegal, the State of Palestine and Uzbekistan took part in the launch meeting in person or through video messages. Social partners, social and solidarity economy organizations and networks, United Nations entities and other relevant stakeholders also participated.
The convening governments introduced the purpose, rationale, proposed working arrangements and possible future work of the Group. Brazil presented the Group’s proposed working methods, Colombia situated the initiative within wider international cooperation on the social and solidarity economy, and Spain linked the Group’s future work to ongoing United Nations follow-up. “This space will strengthen and complement the excellent work done so far by the ILO and the UN Task Force,” Spain noted.
“The ILO has supported this agenda for more than a century,” said Laura Thompson, Assistant Director-General of the ILO, which has had a dedicated organizational structure on this portfolio since 1920. “The ILO stands ready to support the work of this Group of Friends,” she added. The launch comes at the mid-term of the Governing Body’s strategy and action plan on decent work and the social and solidarity economy (2023–29), which gives effect to the 2022 International Labour Conference Resolution and sets out the ILO’s follow-up action, including the promotion of policy coherence in the multilateral system, with the United Nations at its core.
The United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy, established at the initiative of the ILO in 2013, has been instrumental in supporting the adoption of and follow-up to United Nations General Assembly resolutions on the social and solidarity economy. The 2024 resolution encouraged Member States to cooperate through relevant settings within and outside the United Nations, to support the exchange of replicable good practices and to consider how the social and solidarity economy can contribute to relevant multilateral processes. The Group of Friends provides a mechanism through which interested governments can pursue such sustained intergovernmental cooperation and follow-up.
The meeting pointed to several areas where cooperation among interested governments can contribute to forthcoming multilateral follow-up, including the United Nations Secretary-General’s report on the social and solidarity economy, discussions on a possible new General Assembly resolution, work towards international guidelines on statistics of the social and solidarity economy, and requests from Member States for further work on the links between the social and solidarity economy and social innovation.
Following the launch, interested governments met informally to discuss the Group’s working arrangements and next steps. The discussion addressed the draft terms of reference, a possible joint declaration, co-chairing arrangements, focal points and coordination between Geneva, New York and capitals. Participation in the Group remains open to interested governments, with a view to strengthening the role of the social and solidarity economy in accelerating implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and ensuring due consideration of the social and solidarity economy in the elaboration of the post-2030 development agenda. (ILO News)
