This webinar celebrates the first anniversary of the UN General Assembly ratified Resolution A/RES/77/281 “Promoting the social and solidarity economy for sustainable development”. The process was ably led by the French, Senegalese and Spanish governments at the UN under Yolanda Diaz, Minister of Labour and Social Economy and Second Vice-President of the Spanish Government. Next 18th April at 13:30 (CEST), the webinar will highlight the progress made at international and regional levels and discuss the challenges still confronting the Social Solidarity economy (SSE) since it was recognised at such a high international level.
This resolution has signified and implies a growing awareness and international recognition that the SSE represents indeed a systemic change that supports and promotes this global movement of practice, construction and development of a real alternative to the dominant economic model. It is a transformative paradigm shift that is more needed than ever for people and the planet, if we are to move towards truly sustainable development in which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) guide both the political and economic decisions of the international community.
The latest example of regional governments that have introduced framework legislation on SSE is Catalonia, where a draft law was approved on 9 April 2024 by the Catalan government, paving the way for it to be debated and ratified by the Catalan parliament. This decision was the culmination of a 10 year process led by the advocacy work of the Catalan Solidarity Economy Network – XES (Xarxa d’ Economia Solidaria Catalana) and other social and SSE actors. XES are members of RIPESS Europe and therefore of RIPESS Intercontinental. Last year’s Resolution has created a favourable climate for the successful approval of this draft legislation by the Catalan government. RIPESS keeps on working for the creation of such a climate in all continents as part of its approach to co-production of public policies with central and local governments.
The grassroots work with local SSE networks that RIPESS has been doing for more than 25 years has greatly contributed to the process towards adoption of this UN resolution. RIPESS has also played an essential role as observer since the creation, in 2013, of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE), the main organiser of the webinar on the 18th.
The speakers will be Simel Esim, Co-Chair of the UNTFSSE and Head of Cooperatives and SSE, ILO; Chantal Line Carpentier, Co-Chair of the UNTFSSE and representative of UNCTAD; Yolanda Díaz, Second Vice-President of the Government and Minister of Labour and Social Economy of Spain; Claudia Fuentes Julio, Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Patrick Klein, Head of Sector, Social Economy and Social Enterprise, European Commission; Margit Perko, Policy Officer, Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission; Sabelo Mbokazi, Head of the Labour, Employment and Migration Division of the Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development of the African Union Commission and finally, Denison Jayasooria, representing the RIPESS Asian continental network, the Asian Solidarity Economy Council (ASEC): former chair and co-founder of ASEC and Head of the Secretariat, Malaysian All-Party Parliamentary Group on SDGs.
You can register for the webinar here: https://bit.ly/3vqqDac
Simultaneous translation will be provided in English, French and Spanish.
