The COVID-19 Pandemic is a reality for all countries of the world in all its aspects. Africa, our continent, with more than 1.3 billion people, has been affected far later than others and much less affected in purely health terms. But given that it is composed mainly of fragile and low-income countries, deep economic impacts are to be feared for the next five years.

 

The challenge for social and solidarity economy networks in this period of unprecedented universal humanitarian crisis, is to prove that SSE, although not a panacea, is the best vehicle to respond to the concerns of the majority of African populations composed mainly of women and youth.

 

Our added value as networks, in the search for and implementation of sustainable solutions against the negative impacts of COVID-19, is to strengthen advocacy for the adoption of regulatory and legislative frameworks as well as public and local policies in favour of SSE in our countries.

 

To achieve this, RAESS, with the support of the International Coordination of RIPESS has facilitated several thematic webinars with stakeholders from several socio-professional and institutional sectors in Africa and elsewhere.

 

This is why the continental network organized a series of webinars under the following themes from June 23rd to August 14th 2020,:

 

Theme 1: The Social Solidarity Economy and social protection: What place and role in times of COVID-19 crisis and post-crisis in Africa? What partnership approaches?

Theme 2: “Stakes and perspectives for Social Solidarity Economy in the mitigation strategies of the impacts of Covid-19 on local development (with emphasis on women and youth entrepreneurship, solidarity financing mechanisms and the transition of the informal economy to SSE)”.

Theme 3: Post-Covid-19 Advocacy to do justice to Social Solidarity Economy based on lessons learned during the Covid-19 period.

At the level of the country networks:

In Côte d’Ivoire, the Ivorian SSE Network (RIESS) in collaboration with the Platform of SSE Actors (PLAFIESS), organized an international conference on:

“The Synergy of Action between Social Solidarity Economy and Territorial Coaching for the Consolidation of Social Cohesion”.

 

Marocco:

 

Togo: