15/09/2026
What do recent International Labour Organization evaluations tell us about the contribution of to development cooperation outcomes?
A new ILO report brings together findings from 45 final independent evaluations of ILO development cooperation interventions. Among the findings are examples of how cooperatives contributed to more inclusive outcomes, strengthened participation and supported formalization:
🇬🇼 In Guinea-Bissau (founding member of the Group of Friends on the Social and Solidarity Economy ), the establishment of 87 women’s cooperatives strengthened women entrepreneurs’ organizational and legal identity while improving awareness of social and legal rights.
🇲🇬 In Madagascar, cooperatives helped connect fishers and fishmongers with governance structures in the lobster value chain, supporting their participation in value-chain governance.
🇬🇭 🇷🇼 🇰🇪 In Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya, cooperative structures formed part of delivery approaches that also used mobile technology, community health volunteers and digital platforms. Together, these mechanisms reduced transaction costs and supported outreach, contributing to resource efficiency.
The report also highlights ILO-supported efforts to strengthen capacities and policy and institutional support for cooperatives.
In Senegal 🇸🇳 (Chair and founding member of ), a member of the National Union of Autonomous Trade Unions was certified as a specialized trainer on cooperatives, supporting the development of nationally anchored training capacity.
In Viet Nam 🇻🇳, policy advocacy contributed to decrees concerning the registration of pre-cooperatives, cooperatives and cooperative unions.
🔎 Read the full report “Decent work results and effectiveness of ILO operations: An ex-post meta-analysis of development cooperation evaluations, 2025” here: https://shorturl.at/TUPXa
