Hello. My name is Mrs AYI Monique Epse Nkamgna. I am the Mayor of Dzeng and President of the Cameroon Mayors' Network for the Social and Solidarity Economy.

Why is the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution recognising the role of the SSE in achieving the SDGs an important step?

The adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution recognising the role of the Social and Solidarity Economy in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is an important step, as it formalizes the recognition of the SSE as a key player in sustainable development. This gives international legitimacy to the SSE and strengthens its place on the global development agenda. The adoption of this text legitimizes the national and local legislative frameworks that have been able to develop SSE by encouraging governments to incorporate the principles and values of SSE into their legislation. This can take the form of incentives, support policies and specific administrative and financial measures for SSE enterprises. To move from the adoption of a text to its implementation, it is essential to involve local stakeholders, including local governments, SSE businesses, civil society organizations and citizens. This can be done by developing concrete action plans, putting in place monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, encouraging cooperation and partnership between the various players and mobilizing the necessary resources.

How are you implementing this resolution in your city?

To implement this resolution in my region, I am committed to promoting public policies favorable to the SSE, supporting the development of local SSE ecosystems, encouraging social innovation and entrepreneurship, and building the capacity of SSE players through training, support and networking.

Why are you involved with GSEF and how do you intend to carry this commitment forward now and in the years to come?

I am a member of the GSEF because I believe in the ability of local governments to play a key role in promoting the SSE and achieving the sustainable development goals. I intend to carry out this commitment by actively contributing to the GSEF's activities, by sharing my experiences and good practices, by collaborating with other actors committed to the SSE, and by continuing to promote the values and principles of the SSE in my daily work.

Greetings! I am Kim Me-Kyung, Asia Co-Chair of the GSEF and Mayor of Eunpyeong-gu, Korea. As Asia Co-Chair of the GSEF, I am privileged to congratulate you on the first anniversary of passing of the UN resolution on SSE. We, Asian members of the GSEF, hope to encourage more Asian countries and cities to engage in the SSE movement so that we can move forward to a better world.

Why is the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution recognising the role of the SSE in achieving the SDGs an important step?

The UN resolution on SSE has emerged as a pivotal milestone for international endeavors towards sustainable development, which captured the zeitgeist. This resolution holds profound significance for Korea, encapsulated in three key aspects. First, the resolution empowered the SSE movement and initiatives in Korea by reaffirming the SSE’s international stature. Secondly, the UN resolution stipulates that all member nations should promote the SSE in their countries. Thus, the resolution stands as a robust foundation for the SSE initiatives, urging intensified efforts from Korea’s national and local governments. Finally, the resolution has raised Koreans’ awareness of the SSE and helped them better understand its importance

How are you implementing this resolution in your area?

In Korea, policymakers across governments, lawmakers, practitioners and civic groups have acknowledged the significance of SSE. Thus, many have worked to build the SSE ecosystem and strengthen the legal framework in Korea, which is the basis for SSE policy initiatives. Most of all, we have made huge efforts over the last decade to pass the Framework Act on Social Economy in Korea. Despite widespread support, the Framework Act on Social Economy has yet to be passed. In this context, adopting the UN resolution will help enact the SSE Framework Act in Korea by underscoring the pivotal roles played by SSE in people’s daily lives. The resolution will also secure the continuity of SSE policies beyond the political change caused by electoral cycles, ensuring sustained benefits for people.

Why are you involved with GSEF and how do you intend to carry this commitment forward now and in the years to come?

SSEGOV believes that enhancing SSE hinges on robust cooperation among diverse stakeholders, including governments and practitioners, both domestically and internationally. This is why SSEGOV joined the GSEF as a founding member and has actively engaged with the network. Looking closer, SSEGOV recognizes Asia’s diverse policy frameworks, institutional structures, operational strategies, and successful SSE practices. Thus, we plan to identify local best practices to benchmark and enhance our capacity-building efforts to foster the Asian SSE sector through mutual learning.

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LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 

• Juan Manuel Martínez Louvier, Director of INAES - National Institute of Social Economy, GSEF Continental Co-Chair for LAC (Mexico)

Why is the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution recognising the role of the SSE in achieving the SDGs an important step?

We believe that a major milestone was reached a year ago, with the adoption of the United Nations' first resolution on the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), for two key reasons: we believe that multilateral collaboration has always been important, but in the current context, it is both essential and urgent that countries' actions are coordinated to ensure development and peace across the world, to confront major global problems such as damage to the environment, which has led to climate change issues and all the adaptations required, these are not problems to be solved by our nation alone, but the concert of our nations must be concerned and preoccupied with many issues that are happening.

The Sustainable Development Goals were a big step forward in drawing countries' attention to these indicators that show us how to improve the life of humanity on Earth. The series of actions detailed within them, duly show us how to progress with greater certainty. However, there was admittedly a need to establish a "road map" on how to achieve all these goals, how countries can coordinate a reasonably standardized idea on how to bring about development with justice, dignity, and respect for the environment. The answer is the social and solidarity economy.

That is why this resolution signifies to a large extent that the economic model that was set out for us after the Second World War, after the Cold War, as the only way of development, is now seen by most countries as a system that has run out of steam, that has caused environmental degradation and has generated a great deal of inequalities. From our point of view, those of us who promote the SSE, those of us who have this responsibility, analyze that this failure of the hegemonic model of these decades has to do with the fact that economic activity was not based on people, but on other indicators, especially those of capital.
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How are you implementing this resolution in your area?

This is why, here in Latin America, we are very committed to this resolution. For example, as the resolution requires, we have already held a conference of countries and institutions in charge of promoting the SSE in Latin America. In January 2024, we also launched the first Ibero-American Network for the Promotion of the Social and Solidarity Economy. It was initially composed of Spain, Chile, Columbia, Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico, and many other countries are fortunately now joining.

We are very much encouraged by this network, because simply considering the issues of adaptation to climate change, preservation of biodiversity, viewed in more positive terms in some countries that share these great coastlines, in the Pacific Ocean as in the Atlantic Ocean, that we have the responsibility to protect the biological third parties found in our region, is a very great responsibility. But if people do not live well, if they do not have access to conditions of development where their daily needs are met in the greatest possible dignity, then this environmental care, this adaptation to the changes to come, will be frankly impossible. This is why we share public policies, methodologies, measurements, training, so that all the countries that are members of the network can have access to best practices and together create better financial mechanisms for the promotion of the SSE, thus showing that in Ibero-America, in the countries on this side of the world, we find in the SSE the best method for generating development in our societies. And this is closely linked to our action in GSEF.

Why are you involved with GSEF and how do you intend to carry this commitment forward now and in the years to come?

Last year, the Mexican National Institute for the Social Economy was appointed continental co-president for Latin America at GSEF, according to the capacity and nature of GSEF, which acts as a bridge between different institutions, local governments and organizations that promote the social economy and now, organizations that are building the social economy. In this capacity, we are, so to speak, bringing everything together so that awareness and promotion of the SSE and the promise of social justice built on careful economic decisions becomes a reality in our continent. For this reason, I am delighted that GSEF is referring to the UN resolution, that the countries and governments responsible for driving the growth of this economic model, are taking action with organizations such as all those of the Global Forum for Social and Solidarity Economy, that we can aspire to achieving the greatest challenge, which is, I believe, inherent in the SSE: strengthening democratic relations.

That the political democracy that we have achieved in many of our countries, in those that are unfortunately in danger, find in the SSE the best formula for creating democratic societies full of democrats, of course with very strong electoral institutions, but with democratic coexistence, which can only be achieved when citizens decide about their future and their present every day. And that is the economy, a space where we can deliberate, where we can decide. The great decision of where the great profits of the economic exercise should be kept is one of the greatest tests of democracy, that is why when we talk about economic inequalities and how the social economy can solve them, it has to do with this, with the participation of everyone in the economic exercise that leads us to another democratic conscience.  

Therefore, I can only congratulate the fact that we have gathered here, that we are communicating in this way and that we are deepening our understanding of the great perspectives that, of course, the United Nations has set out for us. But the task that we have in our countries and in organizations such as the Global Forum on Social and Solidarity Economy is working to achieve far better societies, here, now and in the future with the generations to come. 

Thank you, very much, and warm wishes, to all of you across the world.
 

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• Alain Rousset, President of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Council, GSEF Continental Co-Chair for Europe (France)

Hello. This anniversary marks the official recognition by the UN, the world's foremost institution of the social and solidarity economy. What is the social and solidarity economy? Firstly, it's the pioneering aspect embodied by mutual societies and insurance, the whole support system for the most needy. The precursor also of the anti-waste society, our modern society which throws away instead of repairing, which could provide a fridge, a TV or computer at a much lower price and avoid polluting our dumps and recycling centres with tools we no longer use and throw away. A pioneer in the field of integration, of inclusion, as Europe calls it, blending economic activity, training, and for example dismantling and recycling solar panels to recover the rare metals our society needs. In short, the social and solidarity economy is also the innovation that can be transposed to a traditional private sector. It is the interest behind food pacts. The Nouvelle-Aquitaine Council supported some 262 projects for local food pacts which promote our produce, and boost the equity of this economy, these businesses and cooperatives. It contributes to agro-ecological transition, supporting cooperatives in the pooled use of farming equipment, enabling ways to end the use of chemicals and pesticides derived from fossil fuels. It means preserving farmers' income and our respect for them, through highly effective methods, in terms of both localness and quality. This very vast and meaningful field, is also a source of hope and innovation for the economic organization of our future world.
 

• Jean-Luc Gleyze, President of the Gironde Department, GSEF alternate Continental Co-Chair for Europe (France)

Why is the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution recognising the role of the SSE in achieving the SDGs an important step?

Charles Gide, the SSE theorist, declared in 1900 that the SSE is the science of justice combined with efforts to improve the condition of the people. The UN resolution adopted in April 2023 confirms this conviction which the Gironde Department shares with its SSE partners. Money is not an end, but a means, to ensure human dignity, by shaping our ecological and social contract.

How are you implementing this resolution in your area?

To implement this text of global value, we will rely, as always, on local action, the basis of our mission and that of the SSE. On a local scale and prior to the French law of 2014, we recognized the role of the SSE in promoting social justice and democracy. Through its expertise and social and solidarity initiatives, the department has an inherent link and natural role within the SSE. That's why we drafted with our partners an SSE white paper in Gironde in 2014, to support these stakeholders' territorial anchoring and promote their transformative, solidarity action for social and inclusive development. The recent launch of food social security is a concrete example. Alongside City Hall, we teamed up with the Acclimat’action group and social and solidarity grocers, all SSE players, to implement this one-year experiment to feed our inhabitants, and our democracy, in dignity.

Why are you involved with GSEF and how do you intend to carry this commitment forward now and in the years to come?

In terms of our major departmental causes, the SSE is essential: From the integration and emancipation of young people in 2023 to disability in 2024, when we aim to promote the economic value of the non-profit medical social sector and boost its human aspect. Supporting the GSEF helps us to go further in this direction, allowing us, in addition to our local action, to forge international ties with the cooperative society. This is our task as co-president of the GSEF in Europe with the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Council. We work to advocate and develop the SSE on a European level. A player in the GSEF Forum 2025 in Bordeaux, Gironde, we thus hope to strengthen the co-building of SSE public policies worldwide, to make this UN resolution a true lever for emancipation.

 

• Bénédicte Sohet, Secretary General of ConcertES, GSEF Continental Co-Chair for Europe (Belgium)

Why is the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution recognising the role of the SSE in achieving the SDGs an important step?

Hello, I'm Bénédicte Sohet, General Secretary of ConcertES, the platform of organizations representing the social economy in French-speaking Belgium. We are also Co-Chair of the European Dialogue of the GSEF. To answer this first question, the social economy waited a long time for this United Nations resolution. We in Wallonia and Brussels were very pleased. For us, it's a really important international recognition of the social economy. So, as Timothée Duverger was saying, we were very happy with this formulation: "The social economy on top of the world", it made a lot of sense to us and we were really, really glad. This United Nations resolution also makes the link between the social economy and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. And that's really important for us too.

How are you implementing this resolution in your area?

Well, in Wallonia and Brussels, we didn't wait for this UN resolution to work on developing the social economy. We've been working on it for years. In fact, we have a decree that defines and recognizes the social economy, dating back to 2008. We also have an ordinance in the Brussels Region dating from 2018, which defines the social economy. And recently, under this legislature, in Wallonia, we have a strategy that defined the social economy in a certain number of actions, sectors of activity, and for us, it was really important because this strategy really allowed us to boost the development of the social economy, and we would really like to benefit from a new strategy, in view of the new elections that will soon take place in Wallonia and Brussels, at the federal level. And we stress the importance of this strategy in the development of the social economy.

Why are you involved with GSEF and how do you intend to carry this commitment forward now and in the years to come?

While the territorial anchoring of the social economy is really important at regional level in Wallonia and Brussels, it's also very important for us to promote the development of the social economy at international level. And GSEF is the ideal place to do this. That's also why we wanted to become a member of GSEF with ConcertES. So, the GSEF is a place where we can collaborate and exchange best practices, which is really important because it's good to envision the social economy in our ecosystems and territories, but we also think it's very important to promote the development of the social economy internationally. The GSEF is also a place where the social economy can shine, where it can be promoted. And that's really one of our missions at ConcertES, and something we're very sensitive to.
 

• Christie Morreale, Vice-president of the Walloon Government and Minister for Social Economy, GSEF Member (Belgium)

Hello everyone, my name is Christie Morreale, I am Vice-President of the Walloon Government, and Minister for the Social Economy. I also represent Belgium with regard to the social economy during this semester's Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Why is the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution recognising the role of the SSE in achieving the SDGs an important step?

The resolution promoting the social and solidarity economy for sustainable development was adopted on 18 April 2023. This is a significant recognition of the role of the social and solidarity economy in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In today's world, we are more than ever looking for new points of reference that are more focused on people, on the meaning of work, on well-being from a professional point of view, and environmental issues. The social economy is an important response and a driving force in meeting the current challenges of social, environmental, inclusive and digital transition. The social economy takes a different approach in terms of profit allocation. It places economic activity at the service of people, social and environmental objectives and working conditions. The strength of the social economy also lies in its governance. It is more democratic, involving all stakeholders more closely in the management of the company and in its close relationship with its territory.

How are you implementing this resolution in your area?

Wallonia is committed to boosting the social economy, with measures that we have strengthened to support the launch and development of companies in the sector. Wallonia is a fertile breeding ground, since there is a founding and pioneering European decree on the social economy, which was already registered in 2008. When I took up my post, I drew up a regional strategy for the social economy which was built around three priority objectives, five business sectors, and ten cross-cutting measures linked to the UN resolution. This means that, in concrete terms, this roadmap is designed to make Wallonia an area of innovation in the social economy, by providing even greater support for the creation, development and growth of Wallonia's social economy enterprises, whether in the form of cooperatives, not-for-profit associations, foundations or mutual societies. We call this strategy "Alternativ'ES Wallonia". we have boosted it thanks to the Walloon recovery plan, with a budget of over €29 million in my region. For example, we have launched two logistics platforms dedicated to short circuits, an incubator specializing in the social economy, grants dedicated to cooperatives, economic promotion around sustainable public procurement and support for research and university teaching in social economics. We have a Master's degree, but we have also launched chairs at each university. With over 6,700 companies and more than 150,000 jobs, the social economy is a real economic powerhouse, creating high-quality jobs that cannot be relocated, in sectors of activity with added social, environmental and economic value.

Why are you involved with GSEF and how do you intend to carry this commitment forward now and in the years to come?

Wallonia is involved in the GSEF, as well as in events such as the 2023 Global Forum in Dakar, which I would like to congratulate you on once again. Our participation in the GSEF is an opportunity to boost Wallonia's profile, to share my region's positions at the Global Forum and also to extend Wallonia's network through social economy partnerships with intergovernmental organizations, national agencies, civil society organizations and private sector members of the GSEF. My commitment to the social economy was also demonstrated at a ministerial conference that we organised at European level on the social economy. This event enabled us, as countries of Europe, to draw up a roadmap for the social economy which was adopted by a record 21 Member States. These 25 concrete recommendations will be communicated to the Council of the European Union and to the European Commission for the next programming period, 2024-2029, in line with the European plan drawn up by Commissioner Schmit, who has initiated a tremendous amount of work for the social economy. Our objective is to be able to pursue these commitments through this roadmap and the commitment made by the 21 Member States.