AMMAN — A recent United Nations report has highlighted Jordan’s efforts to reform cooperative legislation and strengthen the role of cooperatives in sustainable development, employment and social inclusion.

 

The report, titled "Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development", cited Jordan among countries that have taken steps to advance the social and solidarity economy through legal, institutional and policy reforms.

 

It highlighted the Kingdom’s adoption of the 2025 Cooperatives Law, which established the Cooperative Development Fund as a financing mechanism for cooperatives and the Cooperative Training Institute to strengthen the capacities of cooperative members.

 

The report also pointed to measures aimed at creating a more enabling environment for the sector, including provisions for equal representation of government entities and cooperatives on the board of directors of the Jordan Cooperative Corporation (JCC), as well as three seats for women representing Jordan’s cooperative movement.

 

Jordan has also made progress in improving cooperative statistics and data availability, according to the report, through the publication of open data classifying cooperatives by activity and legal status. The move is intended to support oversight and policy-making related to the sector.

 

Minister of Agriculture and JCC Chairman Saeb Khreisat was quoted in the Jordan News Agency, Petra, as saying that the UN recognition reflected Jordan's efforts to establish a supportive legislative framework for cooperatives and enhance their contribution to local development, employment and efforts to address poverty and unemployment.

 

Khreisat said that the JCC had implemented the outcomes of the National Strategy for the Cooperative Movement, developed in partnership with the International Labour Organisation.

 

The measures include updating cooperative legislation through the 2025 Cooperatives Law, the JCC Administrative Organisation Regulation for 2026, and regulations governing the Cooperative Development Fund, the Cooperative Training Institute, cooperatives and cooperative unions, he said.

 

The legislation is aimed at strengthening the cooperative system, ensuring the sustainability of its development role and providing cooperatives with financial and training tools to better serve local communities and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Khreisat added.

 

He said the UN report would help support the continued modernisation of Jordan’s cooperative sector in line with international standards, the Economic Modernisation Vision and the government’s public-sector modernization plan.

 

Global momentum

 

The UN report said that the social and solidarity economy has gained greater legal, policy and institutional recognition worldwide in recent years, although progress in translating commitments into effective implementation and sustained results remains uneven.

 

The sector encompasses cooperatives, associations, mutual societies, foundations, social enterprises, self-help groups and other entities that place people and social objectives at the centre of economic activity. They are generally guided by principles such as voluntary cooperation, mutual aid, participatory governance and prioritizing people and social objectives over capital.

 

The developments follow the momentum generated by the International Year of Cooperatives 2025. In December 2025, the UN General Assembly encouraged countries to continue implementing and exchanging practices developed during the year and called for an International Year of Cooperatives to be proclaimed every 10 years after 2025.

 

The report also highlighted the economic and employment contribution of the social and solidarity economy. In France, the sector accounted for nearly 11 per cent of employee posts in 2023, while Spain estimated that it represented 4 per cent of gross value added and 5.8 per cent of total employment.

 

Honduras reported 584 active cooperatives employing 10,782 people directly, while India classified approximately 659,000 cooperatives as functional.

 

Despite the sector’s growing momentum, the report identified persistent challenges, including gaps in statistics and limited access to appropriate financing.

 

It called for stronger legal and institutional frameworks, greater financial and non-financial support, improved data collection and the integration of the social and solidarity economy into policies covering employment, social protection, care, housing, agriculture and food systems, energy and climate action, culture and territorial development.

 

The report stressed the need to translate growing political recognition into effective policies, institutions, financing and sustained international cooperation to strengthen the contribution of cooperatives and the wider social and solidarity economy to sustainable development and social justice.