It was one of the conclusions heard at the presentation of the UN resolution for the Social Solidarity Economy held last Friday 20 October in Barcelona; the starting moment for the Catalan Solidarity Economy Forum, the FESC.
These words were delivered by Madani Coumaré, President of the African SSE Network and Intercontinental Coordinator of RIPESS (Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy); co-organizers of the event together with the Xarxa d’Economia Solidaria (XES), hosts in Barcelona. Madani’s intervention, via video call from Mali, provided an international perspective and complemented the intervention of our colleague Sandra Moreno, Executive Secretary of Ripess Intercontinental. She began the event by explaining the work of both RIPESS Intercontinental, an indispensable actor in this process of the resolution and initiator and facilitator in the drafting of the resolution, and the UNTFSSE (UN Task Force on SSE). This entity was created 10 years ago and now, during this historic moment for public policy, its work and the importance of states supporting its work is highlighted.
Sandra gave a breakdown of the declaration, which consists of 4 main points, summarised as: 1. Urging states to follow the recommendations given; 2. Urging UN agencies and mechanisms to collaborate in promoting the SSE; 3. Urging institutions and governments to develop ways of funding to implement public policies that support the SSE; and 4. Appoints for a report in 2025 in which these developments are concretised.
Next, and positioning Spain as one of the leading countries in the approval of the resolution, Víctor Meseguer, Special Commissioner for the Social Economy of the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy, spoke in defence of the leadership work of this ministry at international level together with the governments of Chile, Senegal and France; as well as the importance of cooperation between actors in the ecosystem so that the resolution is actively and concretely implemented. In addition, he reached out to organisations such as RIPESS to seek synergies and joint work in the development and implementation of the resolution in the near future.
Finally, the intervention of Marta Grau, Head of the Communication and Training Area of the Catalan Agency for Cooperation and Development consisted of the presentation of the important work carried out in support of RIPESS in the last 3 years as well as the evolution of the agency in its driving plans in support of the SSE, an intrinsic transversal axis in all its current cooperation policies around the world and an example for other cooperation agencies.
To conclude, and with the facilitation of Nina González from the XES Internation Commission, a debate was opened with interventions from the public, among which the possible co-optation of this great moment of the Solidarity Economy by large corporations of the Social Economy stood out. This translates into the enormous importance of maintaining and sustaining the values that make this paradigm the change we want to see in the world and that we cannot allow to be trampled on: people, the planet, care, participation, the commons, ancestral knowledge and solidarity as our flag.
