Global Webinar Highlights How Large Cooperatives Advance Decent Work in Supply Chains

Opening the event, Simel Esim, Head of the ILO COOP/SSE Unit, emphasized the urgency of addressing decent work deficits along global and domestic supply chains.

A landmark joint webinar hosted by the ILO’s Cooperative, Social and Solidarity Economy (COOP/SSE) Unit, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), and the International Cooperative Entrepreneurship Think Tank (ICETT) has showcased how large and multinational cooperative enterprises are leveraging their governance models to strengthen decent work across global supply chains.

Titled “Large and Multinational Cooperative Enterprises Advancing Decent Work Across Supply Chains,” the event brought together cooperative leaders, technical experts, and practitioners from multiple sectors to demonstrate how cooperative identity, democratic governance, and people-centred business strategies are shaping more responsible, fair and sustainable supply chains worldwide.

More than 60 participants joined the global dialogue, highlighting growing recognition of the role cooperatives and other Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) entities can play in upholding labour rights, improving supplier engagement, and ensuring inclusive economic development.

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Cooperatives as Drivers of Decent Work and Sustainable Value Chains

Opening the event, Simel Esim, Head of the ILO COOP/SSE Unit, emphasized the urgency of addressing decent work deficits along global and domestic supply chains.

Esim highlighted the strength of cooperative business models, which embed participation, equity, accountability, and long-term sustainability through democratic structures. She linked the discussion to two major ILO guidance documents:

• ILO Recommendation No. 193 (Promoting Cooperatives)

• The 2022 ILO Resolution on Decent Work and the SSE

Both emphasize the critical role of cooperatives in promoting fair, transparent and worker-centred global supply chains.

A video message from Jeroen Douglas, Director General of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), spotlighted the efforts of cooperatives to address due diligence, sustainability challenges, traceability, and labour rights compliance.

This was followed by introductory remarks from Thomas Blondeel, Chair of ICETT, who presented ICETT’s networking and innovation initiatives in cooperative entrepreneurship across continents.

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Case Studies: How Large Cooperatives Operationalize Decent Work

Four cooperative leaders presented practical examples of how cooperative principles are being translated into operational tools, governance systems, and supply-chain strategies.

The shared message was clear: in cooperatives, decent work is embedded by design — not added as an afterthought.

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1. Korea’s NACF: Supporting Farmers, Migrant Workers and Rural Communities

Jungsik Jung of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) of the Republic of Korea presented the approaches used by one of the world’s largest agricultural cooperatives.

NACF represents:

• 1,100 local agricultural cooperatives

• 2.1 million farmer-members

Key decent-work initiatives include:

• Programmes for young and women farmers

• Support mechanisms for foreign seasonal agricultural workers

• Decent work–oriented financial services

• Welfare, legal support and social protection for rural communities

Jung emphasized that NACF’s vertically integrated model allows it to embed fair labour practices throughout agricultural value chains.

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2. MONDRAGON (Spain): Extending Cooperative Values Across Global Supply Chains

Germán Lorenzo Ochoa, representing the MONDRAGON Corporation in Spain — the world’s largest worker cooperative group — outlined how cooperative values guide both internal and external supply-chain governance.

MONDRAGON consists of:

• 95 worker-owned cooperatives

• 70,500 jobs globally

Key tools and structures include:

• Group-wide governance overseeing social management and supply-chain due diligence

• Extending cooperative participation models to subsidiaries internationally

• The ATEGI Corporate Purchasing Platform ensuring ethical procurement

• “Social Responsibility Auditing” to monitor supplier labour practices

Ochoa stressed that MONDRAGON’s global presence shows that cooperative governance can scale while maintaining strong commitments to worker rights.

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3. CIC Group (Kenya): Microinsurance Supporting Income Security and Vulnerable Workers

Michael Mugo, Managing Director Designate for CIC Microinsurance, highlighted how cooperative insurance solutions strengthen resilience for low-income households, farmers, and informal-sector workers across East Africa.

CIC is owned by 1,552 cooperatives and focuses on tailored microinsurance products that:

• Support human rights and decent work

• Improve income security for rural and informal workers

• Cushion members from shocks such as illness, crop failure and disasters

CIC also incorporates:

• A dedicated HR and ESG Committee

• Compliance teams promoting responsible business practices

• Training programmes for cooperative boards and members

Mugo said microinsurance is a powerful enabler of resilience across supply chains that are often informal and vulnerable.

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4. Central Co-operative (United Kingdom): Ethical Sourcing, Digital Tools and Global Solidarity

Debbie Robinson, CEO of the Central Co-operative (UK), shared examples of how consumer cooperatives promote sustainability and decent work across their vast supplier networks.

Highlighted initiatives include:

• Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for sustainable renewable energy

• Digital traceability tools (e.g. Lobyco) for transparency in sourcing

• A Malawi Partnership promoting cooperative development and fair producer relations

• A newly launched International Co-operative Development Fund supporting capacity-building for cooperatives worldwide

• A growing cooperative digital ecosystem to enable C2C (cooperative-to-cooperative) collaboration

Robinson emphasized that cooperatives can lead responsible business practices not only nationally but also internationally.

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ILO Supply Chains Programme: Cooperatives as Major Global Actors

Annie Van Klaveren from the ILO’s Action Programme on Supply Chains underlined how cooperative experiences reflect — and reinforce — ongoing ILO efforts to strengthen decent work in global supply chains.

She emphasized that:

• Cooperatives can be large, transnational and structurally influential, not merely small-scale, community-focused enterprises.

• Their governance models make them uniquely capable of advancing due diligence, worker protection, and sustainable supplier engagement.

• Lessons from cooperatives can help shape upcoming ILO guidance, policy tools and training packages on responsible supply chains.

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A Call for Continued Collaboration

The webinar concluded with joint remarks by Thomas Blondeel (ICETT) and Simel Esim (ILO COOP/SSE), who called for deeper cooperation between the ILO, major cooperatives and the global cooperative movement.

They emphasized the need for:

• More documentation of good practices

• Pilots on cooperative-led due diligence frameworks

• Strengthening national cooperative ecosystems

• Increasing knowledge exchange and technical cooperation

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A Powerful Message: Cooperatives Are Key Actors in Shaping Fair Supply Chains

Overall, the event reaffirmed that large and multinational cooperatives — through their scale, democratic structures, and values-driven governance — can play a transformative role in making global supply chains:

• More equitable

• More transparent

• More resilient

• Centred on workers’ rights and dignity

The dialogue also demonstrated the growing momentum behind Social and Solidarity Economy models as powerful vehicles for ethical and sustainable economic development worldwide.