Yesterday, 26th November, during the Second Committee of the 24th plenary session of the 79th General Assembly, the new resolution on the Social and Solidarity Economy was presented and adopted with 175 votes in favour and one abstention. The importance of the Social and Solidarity Economy to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through inclusive, resilient, and sustainable growth was reiterated.
The new resolution, co-sponsored by Armenia, Canada, Chile, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, France, Mongolia, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname and Spain, was drafted by the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE) following the publication, a few weeks ago, of the first report of the Secretary-General 2024 on the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE).
Chile, which presented this new resolution, recalled that in April 2023 the first United Nations General Assembly Resolution on the Social and Solidarity Economy A/RES/77/281 was adopted by consensus to promote it as an inclusive economic model with ‘social objectives based on solidarity and with people and the planet at the centre’. He mentioned that this resolution underlines the importance of the SSE as a ‘key driver for inclusive and sustainable development, in particular in terms of promoting decent work, reducing inequalities and fostering social transformation’.
Before proceeding to the vote, the representative of the European Union and its Member States, represented also by the candidate countries Serbia, Ukraine and Georgia, agreed that ‘the SSE is a crucial vehicle to accelerate our efforts towards the full achievement of the SDGs, in favour of economic prosperity and in social and environmental harmony, leaving no one behind’ and that ‘the SSE is also by nature based on a strong partnership model, working with the variety of stakeholders’.
The President then proceeded to the vote. 175 Member States voted in favour of the resolution, with Argentina abstaining. The resolution was therefore adopted.
Argentina took the floor to explain its abstention, stressing the key role of capitalism and free trade in ensuring sustainable development and ending poverty and hunger.
The Chair then gave the floor to Senegal, who recalled that ‘SSE offers an alternative framework to capitalism that focuses on cooperation, equity and sustainability, and seeks to promote economic practices that favour social welfare over mere profit maximisation’. Referring to the Secretary-General’s report, it was recalled that ‘SSE enterprises have an essential role to play in advancing the Sustainable Development agenda to 2030, contributing to an inclusive, job-rich, resilient and sustainable recovery’ and that ‘by fostering social entrepreneurship, initiatives and SMEs, SSE entities support local economies and contribute to economic diversification and resilience’.
To watch the video of the Second Committee of the24th plenary session of the 79th General Assembly, please click here. The SSE resolution is at 02:35:31.
The Second Committee, 24th plenary session of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly also adopted another resolution concerning the social and solidarity economy, such as the resolution on ‘Promoting investment for sustainable development’, which recognizes the need to promote ‘sustainable and innovative financing’ opportunities to ‘unlock sustainable business models, with a particular focus on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the social and solidarity economy’. The resolution on Entrepreneurship for sustainable development also ‘recognises that social entrepreneurs, including Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, are agents of change that can drive innovative economic, social and environmental solutions and create sustainable alternative models of production, finance and consumption to respond to social, economic and environmental problems, while at the same time generating sustainable economic, social and environmentaldevelopment, environmental problems, while generating value for their community and stakeholders, including the social and solidarity economy, which can play a role in fostering development models, and also recognises the need to implement policies and programmes aimed at supporting these entrepreneurs, and encourages governments to create an enabling environment for social and environmental innovation.
