Cooperative University of Kenya organized its 5th annual conference on “Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) as Catalyst for Resilience, Inclusivity and Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. The conference built on three sub-themes, namely: SSE and resilience; SSE and inclusivity; and, SSE and the SDGs. It took place on the 27th and 28th of July, 2021 in Nairobi and online with more than 300 researchers, practitioners and policy makers from around Africa.

The ILO COOP Manager Ms Esim provided the first keynote of the conference on the morning of the 27th of July focusing on the role of SSE in attaining the SDGs. She noted that despite the rising importance of cooperatives and the wider SSE important questions remain regarding the definition, measurement, size, impact, potential, and limits of SSE.

In most countries cooperatives are the biggest building block under SSE although the scope and nature of SSE changes from country to country and region to region, she noted. While mutuals may be quite prominent in Francophone Africa, social enterprises have more recognition and uptake in Anglophone countries, she observed. She highlighted countries in Africa where SSE policies have been adopted (Cameroon, Djibouti, and Tunisia) and are in the process of being adopted (South Africa).

She underlined that the ambitious vision for transformation in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its core principle of leaving no one behind can be better realized with economic, social and political structures and relations generating injustice corrected at multiple levels of governance. She noted SSE enterprises and organizations can provide a people-centred and planet sensitive model towards a sustainable and inclusive development. She proceeded to note how SSE enterprises and organizations contribute toward attaining the social, economic and environmental dimensions of the SDGs.

She pointed out the challenges and opportunities to activating the full potential of cooperatives and the wider SSE in Africa. She highlighted the ways forward for SSE enterprises and organizations to become sustainable and to reach scale. She pointed out how ILO has been working with cooperatives and SSE across the decades. She concluded by noting that next year’s International Labour Conference will have a general discussion item on SSE for a human-centered future of work. This is an opportunity she mentioned for cooperative movements to advocate with their governments to ensure cooperatives and wider SSE are well represented in this discussion.

The conference programme and paper abstracts can be accessed here.