In the fall of 2014, the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS) received the status of observer member of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). This official accreditation to the United Nations system, obtained September 26, 2014 at the 64th session of the Trade and Development Board of UNCTAD, provides the network with new opportunities to promote the perspectives of the SSE actors and networks of different continents with UN agencies and government officials.
RIPESS has been working for several years to raise the visibility of the work and proposals of the Social Solidarity Economy (ESS) in various institutional spaces. RIPESS is participating as observer in the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social Solidarity Economy (TFSSE), created in 2013 by a dozen UN agencies to give more visibility to SSE’s potential for achieving sustainable development among international policy circles, development theorists and practitioners. In July 2014, the network also presented to the United Nations the SSE recommendations for the post-2015 development agenda, following a consultation process that involved groups and organizations from SSE networks of all continents.
