UNTFSSE special meeting on operationalizing the action plan 2022-2024

The UN Inter-Agency Task Force on the Social and Solidarity Economy organized a virtual meeting to discuss recent milestones and future joint work.

News | 14 July 2022
The meeting took place on July 19 2022, with 40 participants including representatives from the UN Task Force on the SSE (UNTFSSE).

The meeting started by welcoming the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) CEPAL as new member of the UNTFSSE and Ms. Chantal Line Carpentier, Chief of UNCTAD Office in New York, as Deputy Chair of the UNTFSSE.

The first part of the meeting was dedicated to highlights and milestones in June 2022, including:

ILO Conclusions and Resolution on Decent Work and the SSE: The International Labour Conference (ILC) plenary, composed of Governments’, Workers’ and Employers’ representatives from 187 ILO Member States, adopted the Resolution and Conclusions on Decent work and the Social and Solidarity Economy on June 10 2022. This Resolution is the result of social dialogue, debates and insightful exchanges with ILO constituents and it includes: the international definition of the SSE, the guiding principles to address challenges and opportunities, the role of governments and the social partners and the mandate for the ILO Office in the area of the SSE. For more information, please visit this webpage.

OECD Recommendation on the SSE and Innovation: The OECD Recommendation on the Social and Solidarity Economy and Innovation was approved on June 10 2022 by the OECD Council of Ministers, chaired by Italy and co-chaired by Mexico. The Recommendation is the first internationally agreed policy framework to foster and develop the social and solidarity economy and social innovation and ensure their ongoing development. It is built around nine building blocks and recognises the diversity of SSE practices, legal forms and levels of development across the world.

SSE Encyclopedia: 57 entries are part of the Encyclopedia of the Social and Solidarity Economy and now available on the UNTFSSE Knowledge Hub, a free, open-access online platform that comprises a repository of a body of knowledge on SSE and Edward Elgar’s Companion Website. Led by UNRISD and the Editorial Committee members and authors, it is a collective achievement within the Encyclopedia project, funded by the Luxembourg Government.

Moreover, the ILO and UNCTAD tabled the recent updates on the process around the UN resolution on promoting the SSE for sustainable development. They noted a growing number of governments showing interest and commitment in the process. The French government is coordinating these efforts under the Pact for Impact Alliance, while the Spanish Government is leading the organization of the side-event “Role of Social and Solidarity Economy in Achieving the SDGs: Potential General Assembly Resolution”, where Ambassadors and Ministries expressed commitment in such process. RIPESS shared the interested outcomes of the debate related to the HLPF side-event on “Building back better and promoting sustainable development via Social and Solidarity Economy”.

The second part of the meeting was devoted to present and discuss the UNTFSSE action plan 2022-2024 agreed upon during the Third Technical symposium of the Task Force.

The three main identified priority areas are as follows: mainstreaming and enhancing the SSE international dimension and profile; boosting the creation and sharing of knowledge on SSE and SDGs; developing strategic areas of interventions. A transversal area is related to strengthening the UNTFSSE governance.

A discussion on operationalizing the Action Plan ensured and it was agreed to establish sub-groups of observers and members for each of the three strategic areas.