Unlocking the potential of care cooperatives in Sri Lanka

On May 19, 2025, the strategic forum "Unlocking the Potential of Care Cooperatives"  convened policymakers, cooperative leaders, workers’ organizations, and ILO experts to explore global models, legal frameworks, and policy strategies aimed at strengthening Sri Lanka’s care economy. It is among two major events hosted by ILO in collaboration with the Department of Cooperative Development, Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development. The focus - furthering the care economy through cooperative and social solidarity models that provide care services and uphold care workers’ rights and promote decent work, in particular for domestic workers.

A new vision for care work

“Care cooperatives are not just about service provision—they are about dignity, equity, and creating sustainable livelihoods rooted in community needs for provision of care. With the right support, they can transform how we think about care and provide quality, accessible, affordable care for those who need it and at the same time enable decent work for care workers,” said Ms. Joni Simpson, ILO Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, during the opening session.

Empowering women through collective entrepreneurship

Ms. Bharti Birla, Enterprise Development Specialist at ILO South Asia, emphasized the transformative impact of care cooperatives, “Investing in care cooperatives affirms the value of care work as both essential and professional, while advancing collective entrepreneurship led by care workers.  This approach empowers women, strengthens communities, and fosters inclusive economic development.”

Policy commitment and institutional support

The forum saw active participation from provincial and national representatives of the Department of Cooperatives, who collaboratively mapped out priority strategies and actions for implementing of care cooperatives in Sri Lanka.

“Our department sees care cooperatives as a timely and strategic intervention. Through this discussion we can support locally grounded care cooperatives model to meet rising care needs while promoting decent work and solidarity amongst the care workers,” stated Ms. Asha Hapuarachchi, Commissioner of Cooperative Development, reaffirming the government’s commitment to supporting locally grounded cooperative models that address rising care needs while promoting solidarity and decent work.

Capacity building – from policy to practice 

As part of the programmes, ILO conducted a 'Think.Care.Coop' leadership training for trade union leaders, cooperative organizers, and care worker collectives, focusing on cooperative models, gender equity, and rights-based approaches. A 2-day capacity building workshop was also conducted for officials from the National Cooperative Council and the National Institute of Cooperative Development  to integrate care cooperative themes into Sri Lanka’s national cooperative training systems, and support the launch, expansion of care services within cooperatives. 

These initiatives reflect the strong commitment by the Government of Sri Lanka and ILO to foster a gender-responsive and community-driven care economy that formalises informal care work, supports returnee migrant workers, creates decent jobs through collective entrepreneurship and increases women’s labour force participation.