43rd Regular Meeting of The UN Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE)

The 43rd UNTFSSE meeting was held virtually on 16 May 2023. It brought together around 30 participants from seven member (ILO, UNRISD, ECLAC, UNDP, UNDESA, UNCTAD and OECD) and eleven observer organizations (Catalyst2030, CIRIEC, CSEND, EMES, EURICSE, DIESIS, GSEF, Euclid Network, ICA, SSE International Forum, RIPESS).

News | 12 June 2023
This meeting was the first regular UNTFSSE meeting since the April 18th adoption of the UNGA Resolution on SSE. The participants reflected on the Resolution and how it represents a major accomplishment for the task force as raising global awareness and recognition of the SSE has been one of its primary goals. The Task Force Chair, Chantal Line Carpentier, UNCTAD congratulated everyone on this historic achievement and emphasized that the focus must now move towards implementation, with coordination and synergy to avoid duplication. She noted that we should really be looking forward to the next step of this achievement, which is implementation.”

The Chair, Vice Chair and Secretariat shared plans for task force resource mobilization, which includes hosting a 4th Technical Symposium later this year. The focus of this retreat will be to develop a new action plan based on the four commitments laid out in the Resolution. The resolution has four main objectives:
  1. Member States to promote and implement national, local and regional strategies, policies and programmes for supporting and enhancing the social and solidarity economy as a possible model for sustainable economic and social development.
  2. Relevant entities of the United Nations development system, including country teams, to give due consideration to the SSE part of their planning and programming instruments, so as to provide support to States to identify, formulate, implement and assess coherent and enabling policy measures and frameworks for developing the social and solidarity economy as a tool for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
  3. Multilateral, international and regional financial institutions and development banks to support the social and solidarity economy, including through existing and new financial instruments and mechanisms adapted to all stages of development;
  4. Prepare a report, taking into consideration the contribution of the social and solidarity economy to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and an inclusive, job-rich, resilient and sustainable recovery, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-ninth session.
Yvon Poirier (RIPESS) and other representatives from observer organizations emphasized the role of SSE entitiess in contributing, as partnerships between SSE entities and States has been a driving force for SSE policy in the past. They noted that based on the principle of what the SSE is, the task force works in the same manner: participatory and transparent.

The Chair went on to lead a review of the priority objectives of the task force with various members and observers providing updates on each of the three priority areas of the UNTFSSE workplan 2022-2024. Under Priority Area 1: ‘Mainstreaming and enhancing the SSE international dimension and profile’, Chantal Line Carpentier made note of where the final version of the resolution (A/RES/77/281) can be found online in all UN languages.

Simel Esim (Vice Chair, ILO) shared the recent ILO COOP/SSE presentations to Member States, mainly Asia and the Pacific region and Africa region regarding progress in implementation of the ILO’s Strategy and Action Plan (SAP) on Decent Work and the SSE in the first quarter of 2023. She noted that the presentations also highlighted the UNGA resolution and the role of the UNTFSSE. Under Priority Area 2: ‘Boosting the creation and sharing of knowledge on SSE and SDGs’, Ilcheong Yi (UNRISD) provide updates on the ongoing and future activities of the Knowledge Hub and the SSE Encyclopedia. They have recently started a podcast and have recorded three episodes interviewing various authors. Charles Bodwell (ILO) provided an update on the global awareness-raising package on the SSE, being led by ITC-ILO. He also announced that the French translation of the Position Paper is now available online.

Next, the UNTFSSE Communications Consultant provided an update on the implementation of the communication strategy and outreach activities, including the tools on sharing relevant information on events, projects, and publications. He showed how in April 2023, the month of the adoption of the UN GA resolution, the UNTFSSE social media pages peaked in terms of visibility, with an 80 per cent increase compared to March. A small feature clip produced on the resolution being passes has been shared extensively with over 27,000 views.

Lastly, under Priority Area 3: ‘Developing strategic areas of interventions on SSE’, updates were shared on strengthening the regional dimensions of the SSE. Recent SSE events were reflected upon including GSEF 2023 in Dakar and the STI Side Event on Social Innovation. Attention was then given to upcoming events including: CIRIEC Research Conference on Social Economy, Social Economy 2023 – Building a stronger and resilient Europe, The European Social Economy Awards - Second Edition - in San Sebastián, Spain, and the 9th EMES International Research Conference on Social Enterprise.