The Group of Friends of the Social and Solidarity Economy, co-chaired by Brazil and Senegal, has issued its first Declaration, supported by 19 governments from across the five regional groups of the United Nations. The Group, launched at the headquarters of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva on 11 June 2026 as a contribution to the Global Coalition for Social Justice, is an open and voluntary platform with the continuous participation of social partners, social and solidarity economy actors, partners of the Global Coalition for Social Justice and other stakeholders.
“The Group of Friends can connect national experiences across different regions and expand South-South and triangular cooperation,” said Luiz Marinho, Brazil’s Minister of Labour and Employment. Brazil is strengthening the social and solidarity economy through the Paul Singer Law and the 2026–2029 National Solidarity Economy Plan.
Through the Declaration, the supporting governments commit to:
• exchange replicable good practices and lessons learned;
• examine how the social and solidarity economy can contribute to multilateral processes and receive greater attention; and
• encourage United Nations system entities to provide support to requesting States, in accordance with their respective mandates.
“The Group of Friends provides an important platform to advance this vision, strengthen international cooperation, and give greater prominence to the social and solidarity economy in multilateral processes and global public policy agendas,” said Alioune Dione, Senegal’s Minister of Microfinance and Social and Solidarity Economy. Senegal has declared 2026 the Year of Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy.
The Declaration of the Group of Friends builds on the 2025 Doha Political Declaration of the Second World Summit for Social Development; the 2025 Seville Commitment; United Nations General Assembly resolutions 77/281 (2023) and 79/213 (2024); and the Resolution concerning decent work and the social and solidarity economy, adopted by the International Labour Conference in 2022.
The Declaration also recognizes the work of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy and welcomes the efforts of the International Labour Organization to promote an enabling environment for the social and solidarity economy, improve the measurement of its economic and social contribution, and develop international statistical guidelines.
The governments supporting the Declaration are: Barbados, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Italy, Guinea-Bissau, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mali, Mexico, Palestine, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Senegal, Spain, Uruguay and Uzbekistan.
These governments invite all other governments to support the Declaration and join the Group.
Declaration on the Launch of the Group of Friends on the Social and Solidarity Economy
