RIPESS moderated the side event of HLPF 2022 (United Nations)

Article of Ripess Intercontinental

RIPESS is proud to have accompanied Spain, UNCTAD and ILO in the side event held at the United Nations on 22 July 2022 on the ROLE OF THE SOCIAL AND SOLIDARITY ECONOMY IN THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE SDGs: A POSSIBLE RESOLUTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

RIPESS is continuing with our tireless promotion of the social solidarity economy at international level in the different and most important discussion and decision-making forums. On July 22nd, Yvon Poirier, special advisor to RIPESS, co-leader of the working group on advocacy and active participant in the network for over 20 years, moderated a panel discussion at the United Nations in New York, in which several members of governments from around the world, including the Spanish Vice-President and Minister of Social Economy, Yolanda Diaz Perez, together with representatives of international institutions and organizations including as Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, discussed and emphasized the need to propose and vote on a UN Declaration in favor of the SSE. The speakers that are supporting and leading the implementation of this declaration met under one roof, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, together with the various international organisations, including the organisers: the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The event, was framed within the High Level Political Forum (HLPF2022) – a United Nations platform organized for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year’s theme of the HLPF was “Building back better from COVID- 19 and promoting the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development“. The objective was to socialize the Social and Solidarity Economy and its role in the achievement of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda.

Ten years ago, RIPESS Intercontinental decided in June 2012, on the occasion of RIO+20, to fully engage in the promotion of SSE in the UN system, in particular to convince countries to adopt SSE approaches in the framework of the SDGs 2015-2030.  Since then, RIPESS has continued to pursue this goal. However, RIPESS and other SSE organisations did not succeed in being included in the SDGs. Even so, our conviction that the SSE was essential to achieving the SDGs remained at the heart of our work.

Time has proved us right, as we felt that the business-as-usual approach would be a failure. Already in 2019, countries present at the HLPF recognised that the SDGs were far from being on track to be met. The pandemic set the world back even further. This has created a situation where many organisations, including the UN itself, are looking for other approaches. This has allowed them to seriously examine the potential of the SSE within sustainable development. UN Secretary-General Guterres includes the SSE in different documents.  The conclusions and resolution on Decent Work and the Social and Solidarity Economy, adopted by the 110th International Labour Conference last June, was an important step in this direction.

Thus, on 22 July, representatives of the States that are supporting and leading the implementation of this Declaration gathered under one roof, the United Nations headquarters in New York, together with the various international entities, including the organizers: the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Inter-Agency Task Force on SSE (UNTFSSE) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The stage is now set for the adoption of a UN Resolution on the SSE, probably later this year. We are confident that, despite all the crises the world is facing, the world will make important steps in the direction of meeting the goals in the last 8 years of the 2030 Agenda, if the potential of SSE is unleashed and enabled.

The event was both opened and concluded by Spain and was divided into two panel discussions that addressed the achievement of the SDGs through SSE from two different perspectives: The first, made up of international institutions and organisations, under the title “Synergies to promote the SSE in the 2030 Agenda“, the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the International Cooperative Alliance (also speaking on behalf of the name of the International Coalition for the SSE) and the Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF) had a voice.

The second panel, entitled “The relevance of a UN General Assembly resolution on SSE and sustainable development: contents and technical aspects” included Ministers and other government representatives from the “core group” advocating for a potential UN General Assembly Resolution on SSE, representing countries such as France, the Dominican Republic, Senegal and Slovenia. Yolanda Díaz Pérez, Second Vice-President of the Spanish Government and the Minister of Labour and Social Economy then closed the event.

Ten years after RIO+20, we can affirm that we have helped to make a very significant contribution to the full recognition of the SSE at the United Nations.

The webinar was broadcast live on UN web TV with simultaneous interpretation into three languages (English, French and Spanish).  Here is the full recording in English.