Ahead of World Social Justice Day, we spoke with Simel Esim, Head of the International Labour Organization (ILO) COOP/SSE unit and Chair of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy, about cooperatives, social justice and the connection between the two.
“Collectively, diverse forms of cooperation not only drive economic resilience, but also contribute significantly to social justice, community empowerment, and environmental sustainability,” she said.
Q: Tell us briefly about the ILO and the COOP/SSE Unit.
The ILO was established in 1919 with a foundational commitment to promoting social justice and safeguarding internationally recognised human and labour rights. Recognising the transformative potential of cooperatives, the ILO established a dedicated Cooperative Unit in 1920 – one of its longest-standing areas of technical expertise. At that time, the ILO’s first Director, Albert Thomas, a leading figure in the French cooperative movement and a member of the Central Committee of the International Cooperative Alliance, underscored the importance of cooperation for the ILO mandate. He famously noted,
"The Peace Treaty requires that the International Labour Office should not only concern itself with conditions of work but also with the condition of the workers. It is in the form of cooperation that this idea is best seen in popular circles. The Section of Cooperation would not limit itself only to food questions; it might also study conditions – of housing, questions touching the workers' leisure, questions about travelling facilities (workmen's tickets), etc. Moreover, co-operation already constitutes an important international movement with which the Office must necessarily concern itself in its own interests."
This visionary statement has guided the ILO's ongoing commitment to harnessing the power of cooperatives worldwide. Over the decades, the role of cooperatives has been reinforced as an effective contributor to poverty reduction, inclusive societies, and the transition from the informal to the formal economy, enabling recovery and building resilience.
Today, the ILO’s Cooperative, Social and Solidarity Economy Unit carries forward this vital legacy as the only dedicated technical unit within the UN system focusing on cooperative policy and development. This Unit collaborates closely with governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations, cooperative movements and other actors within the social and solidarity economy, and United Nations and multilateral organizations. It leverages these partnerships to foster coherence, facilitate conducive legal and policy frameworks, strengthen research, statistics, and knowledge-sharing services, and offer capacity development programmes.
Q: The ILO has been devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognised human and labour rights for over 100 years. How do cooperatives—and your work with the ICA—help to achieve this? Can you share a couple of examples you have witnessed from around the world?
Cooperatives are a powerful mechanism for promoting social justice because they are built on principles of democratic governance, shared ownership, and mutual aid. By enabling workers, members, consumers, and communities to have a direct stake in economic decision-making, cooperatives help ensure that economic benefits are more equitably distributed and that social inclusion is at the heart of development.
There is a deep connection between social justice and the realisation of universal social protection, understood as access to comprehensive, adequate and sustainable protection over the life cycle, in line with ILO standards. Cooperatives and mutuals can support social protection efforts by facilitating access and as service providers.
Facilitating access involves raising awareness, advocating, and collectively registering members, including informal economy workers, to ensure they can access national social protection systems. In Costa Rica, farmer cooperatives concluded collective insurance agreements with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS). The cooperatives are responsible for collecting and transferring the contributions of their members, thereby simplifying procedures, reducing costs and facilitating access to social security in rural areas. In the Philippines, cooperatives facilitate the enrolment of their members with the national health insurance agency (PhilHealth) and the collection of contributions, which has helped to improve coverage levels.
Acting as service providers in areas such as health, social care, and housing, thereby supporting the national social protection systems is another role cooperatives can play for specific vulnerable groups and communities that may be hard to reach. The International Health Cooperative Organization estimates that some 100 million households worldwide access healthcare through 3,300 health cooperatives in 76 countries. Many are integrated as providers of national social health protection systems. For example, the Tubusezere Cooperative in Rwanda provides prevention, diagnosis and treatment for HIV and AIDS to women, including sex workers, who did not frequent their district health services for fear of stigma.
Q: In 2007, the UN designated 20th February as the World Day of Social Justice. And this year is the IYC. What are your plans to celebrate both of these occasions?
This year is indeed very significant, as it marks both the World Day of Social Justice and the Second International Year of Cooperatives (IYC2025). Our celebrations for IYC2025 highlight the pivotal role cooperatives play in fostering social justice and sustainable development. We respond to ILO constituent, field offices and cooperative partner requests for joint events, publications and capacity-building activities undertaken in partnership.
As part of our workplan, we have a series of webinars planned around issue areas which our field colleagues have requested (e.g. the links between cooperatives, mutuals and the wider social and solidarity economy), but also where we have a growing body of work (e.g. provision of care services through cooperatives, utilisation of cooperatives in creating livelihoods in forced displacement settings, formalisation of informal economy through cooperative, social and solidarity economy).
We will also advance other initiatives during the year such as the launch of the technical working group on measuring the economic contribution of cooperatives in partnership with the Committee on the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC). A series of good practices and lessons learned national reports are underway for documenting the ILO’s work with cooperatives in forced displacement contexts.
Q: Why do you believe the UN has declared another IYC? And what is the role of COPAC?
The decision to declare another International Year of Cooperatives reflects a growing recognition of the transformative power of cooperatives in addressing today’s economic and social challenges. Over the past decade, cooperatives have shown their ability to adapt to rapid technological change, demographic shifts, and environmental challenges. They remain underrepresented in many global policy frameworks, despite their proven ability to promote inclusive growth and social cohesion. The renewed focus on cooperatives through IYC2025 is a call to integrate cooperative models more fully into national and international development strategies.
COPAC plays a crucial role in ensuring multilateral dialogue and cooperation around the promotion and advancement of cooperatives. As a multi-stakeholder partnership, it brings together the International Cooperative Alliance together with UN agencies including UN DESA, the FAO, ILO, ITC, and UNRISD. COPAC focuses on leveraging IYC2025 to ensure that cooperatives are acknowledged as essential drivers of inclusive, resilient, and sustainable economic progress.
COPAC does this by promoting the cooperatives and their contributions to sustainable development at key United Nations platforms such as the 63rd Session of the Committee on Social Development, the 69th Session of the Committee on the Status of Women, the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and the Second World Summit for Social Development. These efforts help to highlight the importance of cooperatives in driving inclusive development and improving the economic status of marginalised communities.
Q: In your view, how are cooperatives working to build a better world?
Cooperatives build a better world by providing an inclusive model of economic participation. They empower individuals by giving them a voice in how their enterprises are run, ensuring that the benefits of economic activity are shared equitably. This approach fosters social cohesion and helps to reduce inequalities. For example, agricultural cooperatives support farmers by pooling resources and accessing larger markets, thereby stabilising incomes and supporting rural development. In urban areas, consumer cooperatives ensure that community members have access to affordable, high-quality goods while reinvesting profits into local initiatives. Worker cooperatives, on the other hand, provide a sustainable alternative to conventional employment models by giving workers ownership and a direct say in decision-making, which leads to fairer working conditions and improved job security. Furthermore, cooperatives are emerging in responding to current global challenges: such as digital platform cooperatives, renewable energy cooperatives, and care cooperatives. Collectively, these diverse forms of cooperation not only drive economic resilience but also contribute significantly to social justice, community empowerment, and environmental sustainability.
