Exchanges with the international cooperative movement on the ILO’s Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation and the ILC discussion on decent work and the social and solidarity economy

On May 13, 2022 the International Cooperative Alliance organized an event that brought together cooperators and the ILO to reflect on the outcomes of the 33rd World Cooperative Congress, the relevance of the ILO’s Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation and the upcoming general discussion on “Decent work and the social and solidarity economy (SSE) at the 110th International Labour Conference.

News | 17 May 2022
Two ILO staff participated as speakers in the “Global Consultation on the Cooperative Identity: lessons from the Congress, next steps and guidelines”. They were invited to reflect on the ILO’s Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation and the upcoming general discussion on decent work and the SSE.

The online discussion, organized by the International Cooperative Alliance was a follow-up to the 33rd World Cooperative Congress held in December 2021. It aimed to explore how well the Statement on the Cooperative Identity is known, understood and if it has stood to the test of time since its adoption in 1998. Its objective was three-fold:
  • Inform widely the main takeaways of the reports of the rapporteurs of the 33rd World Cooperative Congress;
  • Create awareness about the global consultation on the ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity; and
  • Bring together co-operators and the ILO focusing on ILO’s standard-setting role, in particular through ILO’s Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2022 (No. 193).
In the third session “Cooperative identity for the world,” Anna Torriente, Head of ILO Employment and Tripartite Governance Unit, in the International Labour Standards Department reflected on the ILO's Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193). She elaborated on its links to Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW) and other international labour standards. She stressed that the Recommendation calls for national policies on cooperatives to ensure that cooperatives are not set up or used to evade compliance with labour laws, and disguise employment relationships or create false or “pseudo” cooperatives.

Simel Esim, Head of the ILO Cooperatives Unit, in the Enterprises Department, started her presentation by referring to how ILO's Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193) has been used by 117 Member States to guide the reform of their cooperative legislation in the twenty years since its adoption. She also informed the audience about the upcoming 110th International Labour Conference in June 2022, where a general discussion on “Decent work and social and solidarity economy will take place. She elaborated on the values and principles based definition of the social and solidarity economy proposed by the Office for discussion during the International Labour Conference. She highlighted the overlaps with the values and principles identified in the Statement on the Cooperative Identity, adopted in 1995, and included as an annex to the ILO’s Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (193).

The concept note and the programme for the global consultation are available here. The recording of the consultation can be accessed through here.