Tunisia advances inclusive development through the social and solidarity economy
ILO and partners convened a National Social and Solidarity Economy Forum in Tunisia showcasing youth empowerment, multi-sector innovation, and a national dialogue on scaling the social and solidarity economy (SSE) for inclusive and sustainable development. The Forum underscored the SSE as a strategic lever for inclusive development and youth employment. It highlighted the importance of integrated policy frameworks, institutional coordination, and investment in a conducive environment for the SSE to advance national development goals.
2 June 2025
Tunis (ILO News) - From 26 to 28 May 2025, the Forum on the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) and Social Innovation took place in Tunis, marking a milestone in Tunisia’s journey toward a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable economy. Co-organized by the Ministry of Economy and Planning, the Delegation of the European Union to Tunisia and the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Forum brought together stakeholders including representatives from the government, employers’ and workers’ organizations, SSE actors, international partners, researchers and youth leaders.
Building on a decade of ILO’s work in Tunisia on the SSE
The Forum drew on ten years of ILO’s work aimed at strengthening the SSE as a vehicle for decent work, youth and women empowerment and local economic development. The ILO began its work on the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in Tunisia around May 2015, following a conference titled “SSE as a driver of development and employment.” This event brought together the government and social partners under the auspices of the ILO and laid the groundwork for subsequent initiatives, including the development of Tunisia’s SSE law. Milestones along this path included the adoption of the SSE Law in 2020 with the support of ILO under the PROMESS initiative; the strengthening of women-led SSE enterprises and their resilience in underserved regions during the COVID pandemic through FORTER’ESS; and the promotion of collective youth entrepreneurship and the creation of local SSE coordination platforms through PAJESS. Most recently the EU-funded JEUN’ESS project has further advanced this work by reinforcing integrated, youth-centred SSE ecosystems.
JEUN’ESS promotes inclusion, innovation through the SSE
Implemented across seven governorates, JEUN’ESS positions the SSE as a strategic pathway for youth employment and local development. It promotes inclusion, innovation, and institutionalization by supporting youth-led collective entrepreneurship, strengthening local value chains, and fostering trust between youth, public and private institutions and financial actors in priority areas such as cultural heritage, local agricultural products, circular economy, and ecotourism.
Over 170 SSE entities have been supported, creating more than 3,600 decent jobs – 56 per cent of which are held by women and 8 per cent by persons with disabilities. JEUN’ESS has demonstrated the SSE’s capacity to deliver locally anchored, economically viable, and socially impactful solutions.
Tunisia’s experience shows that SSE is not marginal — it’s a real path to inclusive development, youth empowerment, gender equality, and regional resilience.
Coffi Agossou, Deputy Regional Director for ILO Africa
Beyond highlighting the achievements of JEUN’ESS, the Forum created space for a national dialogue on scaling the SSE. Both high-level and technical sessions addressed the role of the SSE in enabling just demographic, environmental, and digital transitions; fostering youth engagement; expanding inclusive financing mechanisms for the SSE; and strengthening territorial economic governance. The discussions reaffirmed the importance of integrated approaches, public-private partnerships and evidence-based policymaking to ensure the sustainability and scalability of SSE models in Tunisia and across the region.
Tunisia is emerging as a regional leader in advancing the SSE, aligned with the African Union’s ten-year strategy on the SSE. Now the focus is on turning legal frameworks into action, improving data visibility, and boosting resilience for lasting impact.
Simel Esim, Head of the ILO’s Cooperative, Social and Solidarity Economy Unit (COOP/SSE) and Chair of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE)
Towards a coherent and sustainable SSE agenda in Tunisia
The Forum marked a milestone in Tunisia’s SSE journey, reflecting a shift from a project-based approach to institutional and policy frameworks. The JEUN’ESS model—rooted in youth engagement, local anchoring, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and impact evaluation—now serves as a reference for national policy and programme implementation.
The Forum highlighted the following building blocks for further action:
- Operationalizing the SSE Law by developing administrative procedures, procurement systems, and financing mechanisms that formally recognize and support SSE entities.
- Enhancing inclusive and sustainable finance by broadening access to tailored financial instruments that can support the long-term sustainability of SSE entities.
- Promoting evidence-based policies and programmes by documenting good practices and lessons learned for the replication and scaling of effective SSE-based models.
- Placing decent work at the centre by recognizing that SSE entities promote decent work, e.g. occupational safety and health, elimination of child labour, and formalization.
- Institutionalizing multi-stakeholder governance by further strengthening collaboration among government institutions, social partners, and national SSE actors.
The ILO remains committed to supporting its constituents in Tunisia in positioning the SSE as a foundational pillar of its economic and social policy through international cooperation grounded in social justice, economic democracy, local ownership, and sustainability.
