The IV World Forum of Local Economic Development took place in Praia, Cabo Verde from 17-20 October 2017. The forum focused on how Local Economic Development (LED) addresses rising inequalities, specifically on LED as a foundation for 1) Integrated and Cohesive Territories, 2) Resilient and Peaceful Societies, and 3) Sustainable and Inclusive Economies, with particular attention on how LED is fit for localizing of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The ILO was one of the organizers together with a number of organizing partners including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The World Forum on Local Economic Development is part of an open working process, started in 2011, which promotes an international dialogue and shares experiences on Local Economic Development (LED). It provides the opportunity to transform a global alliance of engaged actors into concrete partnerships at the country and local level. It constitutes a platform for dialogue on issues such as poverty eradication, employment and decent work, sustainable entrepreneurship, and multi-stakeholder partnerships, including with the involvement of civil society, workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Forum analyses how LED stands out as an operational and strategic approach to localize the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Cooperatives Unit of the ILO coordinated a sub-topic on Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) within the thematic line on Alternate and Complementary Economic Paradigms. The sub-topic on SSE focused on key issues such as:

1. The potential of SSE to reinvest value in local well-being and create decent work;
2. Innovative ecosystems for SSE public policies, namely looking at the cases of the Republic of Korea, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Cabo Verde, Uruguay and Morocco;
3. The value and ‘efficiency of proximity’ and the specific potential of alternate and complementary paradigms to promote decent work and inclusive economic growth;
4. Social and Solidarity Finance: Renewing finance for a truly local Social and Solidarity Economy; and
5. LED as an approach to localizing the SDGs through SSE.

The sessions provided references, best practices and tools to support the achievement of the SDGs, with particular emphasis on Goal 8 on decent work, full employment and inclusive economic growth through SSE in the framework of LED strategies for governments, civil society and other social actors. The sessions, like the Forum as a whole, allowed for the sharing of experiences between experts and practitioners on implementation strategies and methodologies in SSE, and facilitated information sharing in their respective fields.

A think piece on the role of SSE in local economic development and comparative analysis of seven country case studies were launched, specifically to feed the discussion during the learning agenda, and one of the interactive panels on innovative ecosystems in SSE, respectively.

The forum elaborated a final “Declaration of Praia”, with specific reference to SSE, and its role in LED.

The sessions presented were made possible by the contribution of the South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) programme of the Partnerships & Development (PARDEV) Department of the ILO.