ECLAC participates in the Ibero-American Seminar on Social and Solidarity Economy

The Ibero-American Seminar on Social and Solidarity Economy: From Global Policies to Local Development was held virtually on September 5 and 6, 2024. The event, led by the Executive Coordination of the Network, headed by the National Institute of Social Economy (INAES) of the Government of Mexico, sought to strengthen collaboration and the exchange of knowledge between national government institutions from various Ibero-American countries responsible for promoting the social sector of the economy in their respective territories.

During the first day, Juan Manuel Martínez Louvier, Executive Coordinator of the Ibero-American Network for the Promotion of Social and Solidarity Economy (RIFESS) and representative of Mexico, inaugurated the seminar in the company of different delegates from the member countries of the Network. During the meeting, several panels were developed that touched on topics such as global policies of the SSE, its impact on local development and the business model of this type of economy.

The Ibero-American Network for the Promotion of the Social and Solidarity Economy (RIFESS), made up of Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Spain, Chile, Cuba and Mexico since January 2024, seeks to promote, encourage, support and strengthen democracy and social justice in the region, with an eye toward fostering sustainable economic and social development.

On Friday 6th, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) was in charge of guiding the conclusions of the seminar. The plenary session was led by Felipe Correa, specialist in social and solidarity economy at ECLAC and representative of the Commission in the seminar. United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economywas attended by Chantal Line Carpentier, Co-President of UNTFSSE and Head of Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development at the United Nations Trade and Development; Héctor Dada Sánchez, Director of the Subregional Office of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB); José Ariza, Director of the Andalusian School of Social Economy; and Jaime Iglesias Sánchez-Cervera, Special Commissioner for the Social Economy of the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy of the Government of Spain.

Chantal was in charge of summarizing the first panel on “Global Policies of Social and Solidarity Economy”, where she highlighted the importance of the Resolution A/RES/77/281 approved by the United Nations General Assembly in April 2023, which urges countries and UN agencies to adopt policies that favor the SSE. Meanwhile, Héctor Dada presented the perspective of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) on the RIFESS, highlighting the recent officialization of the Network in the SEGIB, on July 29, 2024. Dada highlighted that this registry will allow greater visibility of the network in Ibero-American spaces and highlighted its role in promoting and supporting sustainable economic and social development through cooperatives, labor societies, social enterprises and employment centers, among other actors.

In turn, José Ariza underlined the relevance of community alliances and the crucial role of RIFESS in promoting the social economy in Latin America, within the framework of the panel on local development through SSE. According to Ariza, the lack of spaces for continental dialogue on public policies related to SSE has been a persistent challenge, and the Network is an essential platform to foster this dialogue. In light of this, Correa stressed that SSE and local development are naturally linked. He explained that local governments, being closer to citizens, have the potential to act as laboratories for political innovation and be key in the implementation of SSE policies.

Likewise, Jaime Sánchez-Cervera highlighted the importance of alliances between national and local institutions for the development of effective public policies and underlined the need to strengthen the institutionality of the sector, improve its visibility and facilitate the financing of initiatives.

Reflecting on the seminar’s conclusions, Felipe Correa pointed to the role of ECLAC and the efforts made to provide technical assistance in different areas related to the SSE, such as legislation, statistical data collection, and the exchange of good practices, which allows them to have direct contact with different countries and prepare a diagnosis on the promotion of the SSE in each territory.

He also stressed the importance of multi-level governance, recognizing the role of both national governments and local and intermediate governments in promoting SSE to advance the development of countries and people.[Los gobiernos locales] They often play a very large and strong role in the revitalization of the social and solidarity economy sector, but they do not always have the conceptual or public policy tools to optimize their work. For this reason, we have proposed training courses and we hope to have international programs in the future to provide other perspectives,” Correa commented.

This seminar reinforces the work of RIFESS to consolidate the SSE in Latin America, as well as the work of ECLAC as the main promoter to strengthen the implementation of public policies and the legal structure of the Social and Solidarity Economy.

To access the recordings of the seminar and the interventions of the participants, you can visit this link.