The International Labour Organization (ILO) has long been a close institutional ally of the co-operative movement.
As a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards, it shares similar values and principles – and for over a century has had its own branch dedicated to supporting co-operatives and advancing decent work within the sector.
Established by a decision of the ILO’s governing body at its third session in March 1920, the unit – originally dedicated to co-operatives – was renamed in 2024 as the Cooperative, Social and Solidarity Economy Unit (Coop/SSE) to reflect its broadened mandate. For more than a century, its work has linked co-operatives and, more recently, the wider social and solidarity economy (SSE) to the ILO’s core mission of advancing social justice and decent work.
That work may now be facing uncertainty, with the ILO undertaking a wider institutional reform process as it comes under financial pressure caused by inflation, rising operational costs and delayed funding from member states. From 23 March to 2 April 2026, the governing body studied reform proposals set out in GB.356/INS/7 and GB.356/PFA/4.
The first document lays out the office’s vision for reform, with a framework for reprioritising the programme of work for 2026–27, and for generating efficiency gains through 2028–29. The second sets out the financial implications of those reforms for the approved 2026–27 budget and outlines possible contingency measures in the event of a significant shortfall in assessed contributions.
According to GB.356/PFA/4, the reforms set out in GB.356/INS/7 aim to reduce regular budget allocations by about 12.5% over the two-year periods 2026–27 and 2028–29. The document says these measures include the reprioritisation of areas of work and activities, adjustments to the organisational structure, review of field presence and delivery arrangements, and improvements in business processes and support services.
It also states that, given cash-flow constraints and uncertainty over the timely payment of assessed contributions, the office considers it financially prudent to define contingency measures for a possible income shortfall of up to 20%, with any activation decision needing to be taken in the third quarter of 2026.
For the co-operative movement, this brings immediate concerns. With the reform process driven by reprioritisation, structural adjustment, pressure on technical co-operation and review of delivery arrangements, the effect could be a reduction in the dedicated institutional capacity available for co-operatives and the wider SSE – unless the value of this work to the organisational mandate and wider world of work is clearly articulated.
In fact, co-operatives and the wider SSE are not an incidental add-on to the ILO’s core mission. They are reflected not only in the constitution, declarations and Recommendation No. 193, but across a broader body of labour standards and conference resolutions, including the 2022 resolution concerning decent work and the SSE, and the subsequent 2023–29 strategy and action plan endorsed by the governing body.
The ILO constitution explicitly refers to “international organisations of employers, workers, agriculturists and co-operators”, while the organisation’s centenary framework refers to promoting an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises, including “co-operatives and the social and solidarity economy”.
That institutional grounding is matched by contemporary relevance and demonstrable delivery. The ILO programme and budget for 2026–27 states that the SSE offers inclusive and sustainable business models that are locally anchored, with co-operatives alone having over a billion members worldwide. In December 2025, the UN General Assembly also called for an International Year of Cooperatives every 10 years following 2025, reinforcing the international profile and policy relevance of the co-operative model.
The case for maintaining dedicated capacity in this area is not only historical or normative. As reflected in the ILO programme implementation report for 2024–25 (GB.356/PFA/1) the Coop/SSE portfolio shows strong programme performance, field relevance and constituent demand. The statistics are impressive: Output 4.5 associated with this portfolio achieved 22 targets during the 2024–25 biennium, the second highest under Outcome 4, and the report notes that a “significantly higher number of member states than anticipated requested ILO support for promoting the social and solidarity economy”. This reflects the momentum generated through the 2025 UN International Year of Cooperatives, the ILO’s chairing of the UNTFSSE, and support for related UN General Assembly resolutions.
The report also shows that the portfolio is embedded in country-level work and field delivery, with around 62% of Decent Work Country Programmes adopted since 2018 incorporating it, and with Output 4.5 among the most decentralised outputs in regular-budget terms. This includes about 58% of its approved 2026–27 budget allocated to the regions. In a period of retrenchment, that points to a low-cost, high-demand and high-leverage area of work rather than a marginal one.
It also matters that this work is closely connected to current multilateral priorities. The ILO’s public description of the unit states that it promotes the development of a strong and resilient SSE as a means of achieving decent work and social justice. That mission has only become more relevant as governments and international institutions search for enterprise models that are locally anchored, democratically governed and capable of strengthening resilience in food systems, care, housing, energy and labour markets to ensure economic security.
In light of the above, it could be argued that reform implementation could in fact benefit from giving greater emphasis and capacity to co-operatives and the wider SSE, not less. That would be consistent with the ILO Constitution, its declarations, Recommendation No. 193, the 2022 International Labour Conference resolution, and the governing body’s own 2023–29 strategy and action plan.
It would also help sustain the work that many ILO constituents see as directly relevant to social justice, democratic participation, and decent work in both formal and informal economies. The decision emerging from the governing body meeting will matter well beyond one organisational chart.
The ILO remains the only specialised agency of the UN with an explicit mandate covering all co-operatives and, through its Coop/SSE Unit and chairing of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on the Social and Solidarity Economy, the lead UN agency with a comprehensive institutional portfolio spanning both cooperatives and the wider SSE.
The stakes are high. This is a question of whether the ILO maintain the strong technical expertise it needs to stay a global leader and continue its support for co-operatives and the wider SSE. Can it retain sustain its high profile role in the global and multilateral scene, where it translates long-standing constitutional commitments into policy advice, standard-setting, research, advocacy and field support? In today’s volatile political and financial context, preserving that capacity would signal that reform is being used to sharpen the ILO’s mission, not constrain it.
