As economic crises, growing inequality and temperature change tend to prompt a worldwide debate on the meaning and trajectory of development, increasing attention on one of the important matters is that specialize in ‘social and solidarity economy as a particular approach to sustainable and rights-based development.

Social economy institutions and organizations play a very important role in promoting livelihoods and job creation in the fight against poverty. Social economy enterprises offer a very important source of employment in the face of world unemployment and underemployment problem.

Currently, it’s estimated that the worldwide cooperative movement directly provides productive self-employment for several hundred million workers-owners of production and services cooperatives, in addition, because of the non-member employees and other cooperative enterprises.

Agricultural cooperatives create employment in areas like food production, marketing, credit, insurance and transportation. Cooperatives are equally capable of providing more quality job opportunities for youth, women, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups.

Cooperatives contribute to poverty reduction by typically placing more emphasis on job security for employee-members and employee relations, paying competitive wages, promoting additional income through profit-sharing, distribution of dividends and other benefits, and supporting community facilities like health clinics and schools that do private sector businesses.

 

Cooperatives promote social integration and cohesion in the face of inequalities in social capabilities by empowering and giving voice to the poor yet marginalized groups and by promoting the organization of federations and alliances