Representatives of around 30 governments from across all United Nations regional groups gathered at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva on 11 June 2026 to launch the Group of Friends on the Social and Solidarity Economy, according to a press release by the ILO. 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 new platform aims to support exchange, cooperation and follow-up in relevant multilateral processes. Its overarching purpose is to promote decent work, sustainable development and social justice.
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. Its work focuses on 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. 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). That plan 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 was established at the initiative of the ILO in 2013.
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. Areas of cooperation identified at the meeting include the United Nations Secretary-General’s report on the social and solidarity economy, discussions on a possible new General Assembly resolution, and work towards international guidelines on statistics of the social and solidarity economy. Following the launch, interested governments met informally to discuss the Group’s working arrangements and next steps, including draft terms of reference, a possible joint declaration, co-chairing arrangements, focal points and coordination between Geneva, New York and capitals. Participation remains open to interested governments. The Group aims to strengthen 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.
