The institutions, governments, member organizations and observers of the Red Iberoamericana de Fomento a la Economía Social y Solidaria (Ibero-American Network for the Promotion of the Social and Solidarity Economy) (RIFESS), meeting at the session convened by the Executive Coordination on 26 January 2026, agree to issue this Declaration with the aim of reaffirming the strategic role of the Social and Solidarity Economy and economies for life in the construction of inclusive, sustainable and socially just models.
We recall that the Social and Solidarity Economy is firmly anchored in the mandates, regulatory frameworks and decisions of the governing bodies of the multilateral system, in particular the International Labour Organization, which for more than a century has recognised and developed a specific role in relation to cooperatives and associative forms. Similarly, the United Nations General Assembly has been consolidating this approach through recent resolutions that recognise these definitions and guidelines, promote inter-institutional coordination and call for systematic monitoring of progress, reaffirming the centrality of the Social and Solidarity Economy in the global development agenda.
We recognise that the Social and Solidarity Economy is a strategic pillar for the construction of models centred on people, communities, territories and the care of life in all its dimensions, contributing to decent work, social inclusion, territorial cohesion and environmental sustainability.
We affirm that economies for life, understood as those that prioritise collective well-being, care, ecosystem sustainability and the dignity of work, find in the Social and Solidarity Economy a fundamental institutional, productive and democratic support for their deployment at local, national and international levels.
We highlight that, in the Ibero-American space, these approaches have been consolidated as part of public agendas aimed at strengthening popular, community, cooperative and solidarity economies, with concrete impacts on the stability of livelihoods, the provision of essential services, resilience in the face of crises and the reduction of structural inequalities.
We value the historic and distinctive role of the International Labour Organization and its Cooperative and Social and Solidarity Economy Unit (COOP/SSE), as the only unit specialising in this field within the United Nations system, in promoting economic development with social justice, as well as the importance of the Social and Solidarity Economy having, within the multilateral system, specialised institutional spaces that ensure continuity, regulatory coherence and technical quality in its approach.
We express our concern about the processes of redefining priorities currently under discussion, which could result in a weakening of the institutional capacities dedicated to the Social and Solidarity Economy, which would affect the work of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE) that has existed since 2013.
We believe that any reduction in resources or discontinuity of these spaces would limit the multilateral system’s capacity to effectively accompany the transition towards economies for life, by restricting comprehensive approaches that articulate employment, social protection, care, environmental sustainability and territorial development from a rights-based perspective.
We call for the preservation and strengthening of the institutional, regulatory and financial infrastructure that supports the development of the Social and Solidarity Economy at the national, regional and international levels, avoiding processes that could affect its capacity to contribute to collective well-being.
We emphasise that, for Ibero-American countries, the Social and Solidarity Economy and economies for life constitute a strategic agenda of high public value, linked to economic security, social and productive inclusion, the response to the impacts of climate change and the construction of more just, resilient and democratic societies.
We reaffirm the importance of preserving and strengthening existing institutional mechanisms for the promotion and coordination of the Social and Solidarity Economy at the international level, in line with its strategic relevance and the commitments made within the framework of multilateralism.
We express the willingness of RIFESS to continue acting as a regional space for political coordination, dialogue and cooperation, contributing its Ibero-American experience to the strengthening of the Social and Solidarity Economy and economies for life in international development agendas.
We respectfully invite governments; international organizations; cooperation agencies; observer entities; platforms that accompany these processes from their statutory mandates; and organizations that are not part of RIFESS but that advance related processes, to adhere to this Declaration, reaffirming their commitment to a robust, visible Social and Solidarity Economy that is fully integrated into the multilateral system, as a basis for transitioning towards economies that place life, decent work, and collective well-being at the centre.
RIFESS institutions and signatory organizations
- Brasil – SECRETARIA NACIONAL DE ECONOMÍA POPULAR Y SOLIDARIA SENAES
- Chile- INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ASOCIATIVIDAD Y COOPERATIVISMO -INAC
- Chile – DIVISIÓN DE ASOCIATIVIDAD Y COOPERATIVAS – DAES / MINECONOMÍA
- Colombia – UNIDAD ADMINISTRATIVA ESPECIAL DE ORGANIZACIONES SOLIDARIAS
- Colombia – DEPARTAMENTO ADMINISTRATIVO PARA LA PROSPERIDAD SOCIAL
- Costa Rica – MINISTERIO DE TRABAJO Y SEGURIDAD SOCIAL
- España – MINISTERIO DE TRABAJO Y ECONOMÍA SOCIAL
- Guatemala – MINISTERIO DE ECONOMÍA
- México – INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE LA ECONOMÍA SOCIAL – INAES
- Paraguay – MINISTERIO DE DESARROLLO SOCIAL
- República Dominicana – INSTITUTO DE DESARROLLO Y CRÉDITO COOPERATIVO (IDECOOP)
- Uruguay – INSTITUTO NACIONAL DEL COOPERATIVISMO DE URUGUAY (INACOOP)
- Ecuador – INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ECONOMÍA POPULAR Y SOLIDARIA (IEPS)
- Honduras – SECRETARÍA DE ESTADO DE TRABAJO Y SEGURIDAD SOCIAL – SETRASS
- SOCIAL ECONOMY EUROPE
- PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD JAVERIANA
- RED INTERCONTINENTAL DE PROMOCIÓN DE LA ESS – RIPESS LAC
- CONSEJO DE GOBIERNOS PARA LA INNOVACIÓN SOCIAL (GCSI)
- CIRIEC / OIBESCOOP – Observatorio Iberoamericano del Empleo y la Economía Social y Cooperativa
- ESS Forum International – Le forum international de l’économie sociale et solidaire
- COMISIÓN ECONÓMICA PARA AMÉRICA LATINA Y EL CARIBE (CEPAL)
