Global Social Observatory

The Global Social Observatory is an international organization that was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 2004. The mission of the GSO is to initiate dialogue on social issues in order to encourage leaders to engage in a broadened search for solutions and policy coherence. This service is based on a participatory process in a neutral space that brings all interested parties together across national boundaries to identify solutions and policies that are coherent. These solutions can then contribute to policy-making at the governmental and intergovernmental levels. The mission of the GSO has consistently been to facilitate dialogue and disseminate information on social issues in order to encourage stakeholders to engage in a broadened search for solutions and policy coherence. The evolution of GSO services has encompassed roundtable discussions, workshops, action plans, guidance notes and a growing community of participants who appreciate and keep coming back to this unique space for dialogue and collaboration. Finding the common ground for collaboration and discovering the benefits of being more than the sum of the parts have been the lessons learned that continue to draw participants to the GSO space.