This year-long project, funded by the Agència Catalana de Cooperació al Desenvolupament, seeks to support Ripess’ activity by focusing on three main angles that we want to highlight in our daily work.
From its origins in 1997 until today, the Intercontinental Network of Social Solidarity Economy Networks, RIPESS, has grown to become a network rooted in all continents with members in more than 65 countries. The SSE is an alternative model of integral development, focusing the economy on people’s needs while respecting the planet and bringing transformation at the social and cultural levels.
The last decade has seen great progress in the recognition of the SSE. The creation of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force (UNTFSSE) on SSE in 2013, the ILO SSE Academy in 2010, SSE legislation in more than fifteen countries, demonstrate that this approach to development is gaining ground. And in June 2022, the International Labour Conference (ILC), a tripartite (representatives of employers, workers and States) negotiating conference, has adopted conclusions on Decent Work and SSE with an action plan for November 2022; in addition to the ongoing process of presenting a UN Resolution on SSE to the General Assembly scheduled for autumn 2023.
SSE has proven to be a resilient economic and social system in the face of crises, empowering rights holders and especially women most affected by the impacts of political, social, environmental and conflict crises.
For this reason, the overall objective of this project is to promote and strengthen the SSE as an alternative, transformative and resilient economic system to contribute to the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda from local to global, putting human rights at the centre.
As RIPESS, we want to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs, in a spirit of co-construction, in collaboration with our members at the local level, in countries and continents, in confluence with other global networks, and with UN institutions. All key actors, the UN, States, institutions and SSE movements, of which RIPESS is at the core, must work together to achieve these goals. In this sense, this project intends to intensify the advocacy work of RIPESS and its members from the local to the global level; and will ensure the link between global and local actions (in both directions), through participation in policy dialogue spaces, strengthening regional networks and improving internal and external communication to make the SSE visible and to make known the values, principles, advantages and differences of the SSE with respect to the current system.
Therefore, it is necessary and key to strengthen international, regional, state and local advocacy work to ensure a favourable ecosystem for the SSE. The aim is to increase the recognition of RIPESS as a key SSE actor at international and regional level to ensure that SSE principles are promoted by participating in influential dialogue spaces during the period 2022-2023.
It will act as a link between the global, regional and local levels, strengthening SSE practitioners and entities; the continental networks that support state networks and their organizations and finally promoting the SSE to local and national governments so that they can elaborate public policies and implement them. Not forgetting international and/or regional organizations such as the United Nations (UN) agencies, ECLAC, the African Union or the ILO, which work directly with governments.
Emphasis will also be placed on strengthening existing alliances with other movements and/or building new alliances with movements that complement the work of RIPESS.
Therefore, communication will be an important element to promote a critical and committed citizenship for the defence of human rights for the construction of a more just society through the SSE.
RIPESS is convinced that the development of human capacities is fundamental to transform the world.
