UNTFSSE participates in the closing plenary session of the GSEF Global Virtual Forum

News | 26 October 2020
At the event the Director of the ILO’s Enterprises Department and Chair of the UN Inter-Agency Taskforce on the Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE) discussed the importance of social economy organizations in COVID-19 recovery measures and in the implementation of Agenda 2030.


The event was part of GSEF Global Virtual Forum October 2020 with the central theme 'Great Challenges, Greater Solidarity: Power of Community and SSE as a Path for Transformation' organized by GSEF and GSEF2021 Mexico's Local Organizing Committee (LOC). The online sessions took place from Monday 19th October to Friday 23rd October 2020 and included: five plenaries with simultaneous translation in English, French, and Spanish; several thematic sessions on youth, women, local governments, civil society, researchers, and indigenous communities; and few self-organized and special sessions initiated and organized by members and partner organizations. More information on the overall program is available here.

The closing session was held virtually on Friday October 23rd and it was titled “Social Economy as a Mechanism to solve the Great Global Challenges from the Local and Territorial Perspective”. Several representatives from SSE and cooperative movement (GSEF, ICA, RAESS), from European Commission, OECD were also part of the discussion. The event brought together around 500 participants from around the world who engaged with the speakers through the Q&A session.

 Vic Van Vuuren, Director of ILO Enterprises Department.

Mr Van Vuuren highlighted the significant negative impact of COVID-19 on employment and GDP in many countries. He mentioned that as per latest edition of the ILO Monitor, workplace closures continue to disrupt labour markets around the world, leading to working-hour losses that are higher than previously estimated. He stressed that the preservation and creation of jobs should be at the core of governments’ recovery measures and policies. A planet-sensitive and people-oriented recovery is indispensable, in order to fill the social deficit gap, already existing before this current crisis, he noted. SSE institutions should be considered as key actors and critical partners for the public sector in co-constructing public policies for recovery in the post COVID-19 crisis. SSE actors should be part of the solution. To do so, governments need to reinforce SSE national ecosystems and mainstream SSE favorable policies and programs into the main national policies and measures. Mr van Vuuren concluded his intervention calling the participants at the session and SSE movement at large to increase its capacity of outreach and create more spaces of dialogue with other sectors of the economy, public institutions and youth (through education). This will be crucial to make a larger impact and drive a more transformative change leading to more inclusive and sustainable societies.

Around 8,500 people from 100 countries participated during the week event. The program of the event is available here.

You can also watch the final sessions' recordings through these Facebook links: 
English
French