These last weeks of the year are being very active in political advocacy for RIPESS and the members of its “International Political Advocacy and Alliances” working group. Do not miss the summary of conferences in which RIPESS is actively involved.

Written by Gabriel Boichat, RIPESS Communications Manager

These last weeks of the year are being very active in political advocacy for RIPESS and the members of its “International Political Advocacy and Alliances” working group before the main international meetings in which the Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) has a leading role. Below, we offer a summary of the most recent conferences and those that will take place soon in which RIPESS participates actively with the presence of members from different continents.

  • UCLG World Congress of Local and Regional Leaders (United Cities and Local Governments)
  • SSE Economy Momentum Conference: Financing for Inclusion and the Future of Work
  • Political dialogue in Europe 2019
  • Meeting of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on SSE (UNTFSSE)
  • World Social Protection Week
  • International Seminar: Confluences to develop Public Policies Favorable to the Social Solidarity Economy
  • First Political Dialogue on the Social Solidarity Economy in the Latin America and Caribbean Region

RIPESS makes a special effort to attend and contribute to the international forums dedicated to SSE, which RIPESS sometimes organizes, with the aim of defending SSE as a fundamental strategy in the transformation of the economy and in the search for solutions for a better world.

As an intercontinental network whose members work locally and are organized in networks, with strong links to grassroots projects, RIPESS can bring the local to global vision to ensure that the voice of SSE experiences and projects from around the world that are achieving important results can be heard and taken into account in international fora.

UCLG World Congress of Local and Regional Leaders (United Cities and Local Governments)

Durban
November 11th to 15th

The World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders is based on the centenary international municipal movement. It has included interactive and innovative activities focused on four axes that guided participants throughout the World Summit, and has also included a commitment to ensure a better future for all through action at the local, national and international levels; a commitment to govern and generate cooperation; and a commitment that cities and regions take their rightful place at the head of the new international agenda for sustainable and inclusive development.

UCLG is the global reference organization for Cities and Regions. It defends the interests of local and regional governments on the international scene and in all the subjects related to the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. It represents 70% of the world’s population, 5 billion people in 240,000 cities, regions and cities, and 140 countries.

RIPESS considers that public policies and subnational governments are key to achieve a systemic and transformative change of the economy through the responses that SSE brings to the local level.

For this reason, Judith Hitchman, Urgenci member and RIPESS Board of Directors member, has participated at this conference and intervened in the session “Locating the Transformative Agenda: Expanding the economy and Social Solidarity finance”.

This session, organized by RIPESS, GSEF (Global Forum on Social Economy) and FMDV (Global Fund for Cities Development) explored how the policies ecosystem architecture, instruments/methodologies, funds and actors could be able to respond to the expected social transformations, through Social Solidarity Economy Finance (SSE) solutions.

SSE Economy Momentum Conference: Financing for Inclusion and the Future of Work

Trento, Italy
18 to 20 November 2019

This conference, organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as part of its centenary initiative, will present two large-scale studies analyzing the future of work and the role of SSE.

In particular, the studies to be presented are “Contribution of the SSE and social finance to the future of work”, carried out by HIVA and sponsored by the French Government. And “Financial Mechanisms for Innovative and Solidary Social Economy Ecosystems”, carried out by EURICSE and sponsored by the Luxembourg Government.

It will be a high-level event that will bring together more than one hundred SSE researchers, policy makers, experts and practitioners from around the world, with the aim of commenting on projects findings and translating them into a research and policy agenda.

Representing RIPESS will be David Thompson (RIPESS Oceania), Denison Jayasooria (ASEC – RIPESS Asia) and Yvon Poirier (RIPESS North America and vice-coordinator of RIPESS). Yvon Poirier will give a presentation onNovember 19th on how RIPESS developed as a network.

You can consult the program and all the information here.

Policy Dialogue in Europe 2019

Liverpool, United Kingdom
18 and 19 November

Organized by GSEF, the Regional Policy Dialogues play a key role in promoting the exchange of knowledge between policy-makers and SSE actors in order to identify the best ways to co-construct public policies and establish ecosystems for the promotion of the SSE and social innovation.

Drazen Simlesa, RIPESS Europe coordinator, will attend this political dialogue focused on the European continent.

Meeting of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on SSE (UNTFSSE)

Trento, Italy
21 and 22 November 2019

This internal UNTFSSE meeting consists of an UNTFSSE technical symposium attended by members of the working group, as well as the SSE organizations and networks as observers, among which RIPESS actively contributes. The objective is that this meeting succeeds in creating a stronger UNTFSSE team, which can apply and take advantage of the wide experience of the different members and observers to promote the SSE.

In particular, it will seek to strengthen the working group so that it can increase the visibility and recognition of SSE at the global level, especially as an appropriate vehicle for achieving and localizing SSE; create an enabling environment for SSE at different levels; and contribute to the creation of knowledge and exchange around SSE and sustainability, and inclusive development.

On the RIPESS side, David Thompson (RIPESS Oceania), Denison Jayasooria (ASEC – RIPESS Asia), Yvon Poirier (RIPESS North America and vice coordinator of RIPESS) and Jason Nardi (coordinator of RIPESS) will attend

World Social Protection Week

Achieving ODS 1.3 and universal social protection (USP2030) in the context of the future of work

Geneva
25 to 28 November 2019

The Week will provide a roadmap for the future of social protection within the framework of the recently adopted International Labour Organization (ILO) Centennial Declaration on the Future of Work.

On the first day, key actors such as representatives of governments, workers, employers, international organizations and international financial institutions, as well as civil society organizations and academia, will discuss the catalytic role of social protection in achieving Agenda 2030. They will also discuss the current situation and remaining protection gaps, and the actors’ alliances who have joined forces and developed a common strategy to achieve SDG 1.3.

On the second day, the ILO will launch a reference publication on the funding gaps to achieve SDG 1.3, followed by a discussion on how to create a fiscal space, followed by the manifestation of the actors’ commitment to the achievement of SDG 1.3.

Finally, technical sessions will be organized which will provide an opportunity to continue and deepen the discussions of the high-level conference. In 18 sessions, organized in six themes over two days, experts will meet to discuss the development and improvement of social protection systems that are adequate, sustainable and adapted to the evolution of the world of work.

Alfonso Cotera, RIPESS Technical Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, will be in Geneva on behalf of RIPESS.

You can find all the information here.

International Seminar

Confluences to develop Public Policies Favorable to the Social Solidarity Economy and Social Protection Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
3 and 4 December 2019

Organized by the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy, Latin America and the Caribbean Region (RIPESS- LAC), the objective of this event is to contribute to the reflection and proposals to develop public policies favorable to social protection systems and the solidarity economy. SSE projects and public agencies will attend to ensure that they are truly at the service of the collective welfare of workers.

Experts and social leaders from the different countries of Latin America and the Caribbean will attend to share experiences and reflections with workers, students, authorities and the general public of the Dominican Republic, in order to advance in the promotion of proposals that favor the development of SSE and social protection in the region.

It is important to point out that the starting point of this meeting will be the “Study on the Regulatory Frameworks of the Social Solidarity Economy and its Relationship with Social Protection Policies in Latin America” carried out by RIPESS LAC with the support of WSM.

The study was carried out in order to better understand the current economic context and inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean and, in this way, to be able to elaborate advocacy strategies in the region and in the countries. The study has taken as case studies the following countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Dominican Republic.

This study, which will be presented during the international seminar, is a fundamental working basis to prepare RIPESS LAC’s contributions for the First Political Dialogue on the Social and Solidarity Economy in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region, as well as the GSEF 2020 Forum in Mexico or the WSTE 2020.

First Political Dialogue on the Social Solidarity Economy in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region

Itzapalapa, Mexico
9 December 2019

This first Political Dialogue in LAC will take place in sessions co-organized by GSEF and the Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) during the 19th Conference of the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy (IOPD) to be held in Iztapalapa, Mexico.

The event aims to achieve a better understanding of the role of the SSE in current development frameworks; create networks with new members and potential partners in the Latin American region and promote SSE and its important contribution to the SDGs localization and achievement; provide a space for debate and mutual learning of experiences towards sustainable and inclusive local development through SSE; and promote the upcoming GSEF2020 Mexico City.

Alfonso Cotera, Technical Secretary of RIPESS Latin America and the Caribbean, and moderator of the RIPESS LAC advocacy working group, will speak in one of the sessions to offer a perspective of the actors of the LAC SSE.

You can consult all the information here.