Social and solidarity economy entities deliver inclusive, community-driven care solutions

GENEVA (ILO News) - As part of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025 (IYC2025), the ILO Cooperative, Social and Solidarity Economy Unit (COOP/SSE) and the ILO Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Branch (GEDI) organized a global webinar on June 17, 2025 on the role of cooperatives and social and solidarity economy (SSE) entities in care provision. The webinar took stock of the progress of the Cooperative Care Provision as a Gender-Transformative Decent Work Solution, a cross-regional, multi-country program that promotes care provision models through cooperatives and other SSE entities.

The event brought together 169 participants from across regions, including representatives of governments, ILO social partners, care workers’ organizations, and cooperative and SSE networks. It aimed to take stock of the progress in the country pilot initiatives in delivering care through SSE entities, explore common challenges and opportunities, and facilitate dialogue to expand access to quality care and decent work.

Community-led care models across Colombia, Zimbabwe and the OPT

Across Colombia, Zimbabwe and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the ILO has implemented a common five-phase intervention model (as illustrated below) to support care through cooperatives and other SSE entities. While the methodology is shared, its application has been tailored to each national context, resulting in distinctive, community-driven innovations that respond to local care needs and socioeconomic realities.

© ILO

© ILO

In Colombia, the model has been implemented for Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities through partnerships with grassroots women’s groups. Ms. Carolina Pava, ILO National Project Coordinator in Colombia showcased how ILO support enabled the creation of the Arhuaco Ancestral Care House serving over 250 women weavers and the development of a Midwifery House in Quibdó supporting 180 midwives. These community-led initiatives are aligned with Colombia’s National Care Policy and demonstrate how ancestral knowledge and SSE can converge to deliver gender-responsive development.

In the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Mr. Younis Sbeih, National Project Officer at ILO Jerusalem, presented a pilot effort led by the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) to establish a childcare cooperative in Nablus. The cooperative is progressing through coordination with the Ministries of Labour, Social Development, and Health to secure licensing and rehabilitate a care facility. Once operational, it will offer affordable childcare services to working families and create formal employment opportunities for women care workers. This initiative illustrates how trade unions can lead concrete, worker-centred solutions for expanding care access and decent work in crisis-affected settings.

In Zimbabwe, Ms. Audrey Charamba, National Programme Officer in ILO Harare, shared findings from an ILO assessment highlighting the need for strong institutional capacity, financing, and multi-stakeholder collaboration—including government, workers’ unions, and informal economy networks—to support care cooperatives. A feasibility study is now underway, drawing on lessons from two existing models: the Safe Market in Chesvingo, which integrates childcare, gender-based violence (GBV) response, and health services for street vendors; and existing multipurpose cooperatives in different regions of Zimbabwe that combine agricultural production with care services for orphans and the elderly.

Regional reflections: building multistakeholder approaches in South Asia

In South Asia, Ms Bharti Birla, Enterprise Development Specialist at ILO’s Decent Work Technical Team for South Asia spoke about how care provision is being advanced through cooperative and SSE entities grounded in multistakeholder collaboration. In Sri Lanka, efforts are underway to support the formation of care cooperatives/SSEs with the support of the unions/workers’ organizations, and with the engagement of ministries, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and local communities. Credit cooperatives in the health sector are also being considered as potential platforms to expand care services for and beyond their membership. In India, the ILO has partnered with unions to train domestic workers in elderly and childcare and support the formation of care cooperatives/SSE entities. These entities have enabled workers to negotiate better wages, secure written contracts, and gain skills recognition —contributing to formalizing care work.

New training tools for action: Think.CareCoop and Start.CareCoop

A key milestone of the webinar was the official launch of two new ILO training tools: Think.CareCoop and Start.CareCoop. They are primarily designed for care workers—both paid and unpaid—interested in using the cooperative model to respond to community care needs and/or establish a care cooperative. They are also intended for use by existing cooperatives, trade unions, local governments, and other organizations.

Following a Training of Trainers (ToT) approach, the tools target local support institutions and individual trainers, enabling them to independently deliver capacity-building sessions. Certification processes are in place to facilitate national adaptation and institutional uptake. Both tools are currently available in English and Spanish, with an Arabic version forthcoming.

Key takeaways and next steps

The webinar discussion offered valuable reflections on emerging practices, institutional roles, and considerations for advancing care provision through cooperatives and other SSE entities:

• Participatory governance strengthens sustainability: Cooperatives allow care workers, service recipients, and communities to shape care priorities and delivery mechanisms, fostering local ownership and alignment with national priorities—as illustrated by the Colombia experience.
• Workers’ organizations serve as strategic partners: In the OPT, unions contributed to initiating childcare cooperatives, highlighting their role in advocacy, organization, and promoting decent work in fragile contexts.
• Multi-stakeholder collaboration is foundational: Engagement between public institutions, workers’ and employers’ organizations, cooperatives, and civil society emerged as a critical factor in supporting care models adapted to local needs.
• Blended financing models are important: Care cooperatives can benefit from diversified funding sources involving governments, financial cooperatives, private actors, and communities, enhancing financial viability and reach.
• Safeguards and regulatory oversight are necessary: Ensuring quality and accountability in care services—especially in informal settings—requires appropriate regulations, labour inspection mechanisms, and institutional coordination.
• Recognition and professionalization of care work are essential: Certification systems and skills recognition, as seen in South Asia, contribute to formalizing care roles and improving conditions for workers.