By Josette Combes

The solidarity economy will be feminist or it will not be. It was with this slogan that the Basque Congress of Solidarity Economy had opened its session in 2016. The month of March is the one that conceals a very small day during which we talk about women’s rights. Demonstrations all over the world, with young women, more and more angry. Three young women have collected for this bulletin the words of some “historical” who are happy that the torch is taken up by young people, after a relatively amorphous phase of a generation that had probably believed that everything was going well. But this is not the case, feminicides are still too numerous, rapes go unpunished, harassment is present on the networks and even in Europe some achievements like the right to abortion are threatened. Women talk and travel to meet other women. Thus, they are strengthened.

We militate in defense and on all fronts. Since the beginning of the pandemic, iniquitous measures are being put in place and petitions are circulating, mostly in vain. The last of the exactions of our plutocrats has been to put the water trade on the stock market (see here (in French) the article by Riccardo Petrella). Water but also land are common goods to be defended, Urgenci is ardently dedicated to the advocacy for the preservation of these essential goods.

RIPESS Europe will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. In spite of its reduced means (our thanks to the Foundation for the Progress of Humankind which has renewed its confidence and support for three more years), the network has grown in ten years, joint projects have multiplied, alliances are developing, all this in spite of the coercive measures that are blocking their development (Greece is once again suffering after a notable take-off of the citizen initiatives). We will start in April a collection of testimonies among our members on the theme “what happened to your network during the last ten years” and we will realize a series of interviews. To begin with, in this newsletter, an interview with Carlos Rey, executive secretary of REAS, red de redes, one of the initiators of the RIPESS Europe Founding Congress.

Gathering our forces to get rid of everything that hinders the freedom to create, everything that limits the scope of solidarity among humans, is the only way out.

Let us quote Riccardo Petrella in conclusion :

“Historically, the claws of domination have always given way, sooner or later. We do not know how and when the current claws will give way. However, it is certain that if the inhabitants of the Earth rebel and fight for the liberation of life, the time frame can be shortened and the break will be quicker, which will lead to a real upheaval of the world in the interest of the 85% of the world’s population that are excluded today. “