ILO COOP and UNTFSSE participate in the AIM Joint Committee meeting on the Social and Solidarity Economy
ILO COOP and UNTFSSE took part in the AIM Joint Committee hybrid Meeting titled “Which legal frameworks for a flourishing social economy where mutuals can play their role” on Tuesday, 7 November 2023.
9 November 2023
The International Labour Organization's Cooperatives Unit (ILO COOP) and the United Nations Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE) representatives took part as speakers in the AIM Joint Committee meeting on the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). The two-panel event took place in a hybrid format. The meeting focused on informing participants about existing legislative frameworks related to mutuals and social economy in different continents. The focus of the first panel was t UN GA resolution on promoting the SSE for sustainable development and the ILC resolution concerning decent work and the SSE.
Ms. Chantal Line Carpentier, co-chair of the UNTFSSE and Head of Trade, Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development at UNCTAD noted that on April 18, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development” (A/RES/77/281). The UN GA resolution uses the international tripartite definition of the Social and Solidarity Economy adopted at the ILC, she added.
The fourth technical symposium of the UNTFSSE was organized in Montreal from 2-3 October 2023 to develop the workplan of the UNTFSSE for the next two years in implementing the recommendations of the UN GA Resolution she noted. As a first order of business the UNTFSSE is tasked with helping with the development of the UN SG report on the implementation of the resolution that will be presented at the 79th session of the UN GA in 2024.
Ms. Simel Esim, Co-chair of the UNTFSSE and Head of ILO COOP, underscored the significance of the international tripartite definition of the SSE that was part of the 110th ILC resolution on decent work and the SSE. She noted that this values and principles-based definition has been built through a thorough review of existing SSE policies and legislations at the local and national level in more than 20 countries.
It is also based on a review of existing definitions of the SSE from across the globe and it is informed by the most recent conceptual work on SSE policy and statistics, and consultations with key SSE stakeholders, she noted. It is aligned with the EU definition for instance, but different from the European definition in the sense that it includes an emphasis on the role of the SSE on formalization of the informal economy, Ms Esim added.
“We are now working on operationalizing this definition in legal and statistical terms through a legal guide for legislators and policy makers especially in the Global South. She pointed out that in Follow-up to the ILC resolution concerning decent work and the social and solidarity economy, the ILO developed a seven-year (2023-27) strategy and action plan. As part of this plan the 21st session of the International Conference of Labour Statisticians has given overwhelming support to the work of the office on both statistics of cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy (SSE). The ILO is now leading efforts within the UNTFSSE to set up and work through a technical working group on statistics of the SSE.
Mr. Alejandro Russo, AIM's Vice President in charge of Latin America, Mr. Abdelaziz Alaoui, AIM's Vice President in charge of Africa and the Middle East and Ms. Sarah de Heusch, Director, Social Economy Europe offered a broad perspective on the realities of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. As the AIM Joint Committee meeting concluded, the collaboration between mutual organizations and their international bodies and the UN system, including the ILO and the UNTFSSE emerged as one of the ways forward for advancing the SSE for sustainable development.
Ms. Chantal Line Carpentier, co-chair of the UNTFSSE and Head of Trade, Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development at UNCTAD noted that on April 18, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development” (A/RES/77/281). The UN GA resolution uses the international tripartite definition of the Social and Solidarity Economy adopted at the ILC, she added.
The fourth technical symposium of the UNTFSSE was organized in Montreal from 2-3 October 2023 to develop the workplan of the UNTFSSE for the next two years in implementing the recommendations of the UN GA Resolution she noted. As a first order of business the UNTFSSE is tasked with helping with the development of the UN SG report on the implementation of the resolution that will be presented at the 79th session of the UN GA in 2024.
Ms. Simel Esim, Co-chair of the UNTFSSE and Head of ILO COOP, underscored the significance of the international tripartite definition of the SSE that was part of the 110th ILC resolution on decent work and the SSE. She noted that this values and principles-based definition has been built through a thorough review of existing SSE policies and legislations at the local and national level in more than 20 countries.
It is also based on a review of existing definitions of the SSE from across the globe and it is informed by the most recent conceptual work on SSE policy and statistics, and consultations with key SSE stakeholders, she noted. It is aligned with the EU definition for instance, but different from the European definition in the sense that it includes an emphasis on the role of the SSE on formalization of the informal economy, Ms Esim added.
“We are now working on operationalizing this definition in legal and statistical terms through a legal guide for legislators and policy makers especially in the Global South. She pointed out that in Follow-up to the ILC resolution concerning decent work and the social and solidarity economy, the ILO developed a seven-year (2023-27) strategy and action plan. As part of this plan the 21st session of the International Conference of Labour Statisticians has given overwhelming support to the work of the office on both statistics of cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy (SSE). The ILO is now leading efforts within the UNTFSSE to set up and work through a technical working group on statistics of the SSE.
Mr. Alejandro Russo, AIM's Vice President in charge of Latin America, Mr. Abdelaziz Alaoui, AIM's Vice President in charge of Africa and the Middle East and Ms. Sarah de Heusch, Director, Social Economy Europe offered a broad perspective on the realities of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. As the AIM Joint Committee meeting concluded, the collaboration between mutual organizations and their international bodies and the UN system, including the ILO and the UNTFSSE emerged as one of the ways forward for advancing the SSE for sustainable development.