Newsletter July 2019

gsefadmin

2019-07-25

Global Social Economy Forum 2020 (GSEF2020) is now official! The memorandum of understanding between the GSEF and Mexico City was signed to embark on the preparation work of GSEG2020, one of the most important forums on Social and Solidarity Economy. GSEF2020 will take place in Mexico City (Mexico) between 21st and 23rd October 2020. Besides the forum, the General Assembly of GSEF will be held in order to determine the host city of the 6th edition of GSEF in 2022.

Coorganized by GSEF and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), a Training Programme for Local Leaders and Practitioners in Uganda and the East African Region will take place between the 21st and 23rd of August in Kampala, Uganda. This training programme is part of the GSEF Training & Workshop Series - a series of regular capacity-building events aiming to identify common issues, share best practices, and allow knowledge exchange and partnership building between practitioners, while taking into consideration the needs and context of each territory.

With the approval of the Steering Committee in April and July 2019, GSEF welcomed 8 new members to our family:

Beninese Social and Solidarity Economy Group (GBESS)
City of Dakar
Commune of Keur Saloum Diané
French Network of Local Authorities for a Solidarity Economy (RTES)
Ivorian Network of Social and Solidarity Economy (RIESS)
Network of Cameroon Mayors for Social and Solidarity Economy (REMCESS)
Organization of Engaged Youth for Sustainable Development (OJEDD)
Wales Co-operative Centre (WCC)

GSEF organized a special session around the theme of 'Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals: What Role for Social and Solidarity Economy?' in the framework of the International Conference of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE), which took place from 25-26 June 2019.

The first Pact for Impact Summit was held from 10-11 July 2019 at the Quay Branly Museum, in Paris (France) to mark the beginning of a new global alliance of actors engaged in the development of the social and solidarity economy (SSE) and committed to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In collaboration with the European Commission and the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social and Solidarity Economy (RIPESS), GSEF organized a session during the summit around the theme 'What if the solution was local? Social and inclusive economy at the level of territories'.

GSEF welcomes the decision of International Labor Organization (ILO) to commit to promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy and cooperatives in its Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work.

In July, we welcome our new Team Leader dispatched from the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG), Ms. Jinah EUN. Her key interests include global solidarity in the area of sustainable urban development and human resource training.

Taking this opportunity, we would also like to thank Ms. Hae Kyung Seo for her help and kindness. We wish her all the best in her next post at Seoul Metropolitan Government.

On 6 July, GSEF joined other SSE actors, in particular cooperatives, in the celebration of the International Day of Cooperatives. We reiterate that the characteristics of prioritizing human dignity, fairness and equality over profit in cooperatives facilitate sustainable economic development. We would also like to thank all the actors contributing to the development of cooperatives for their hard work.

Organized by Impact Hub Taipei, the "Gender Innovation Awards" aims to spark the ideas which are to solve the most pressing problems caused by gender inequality and discrimination. This first competition in Asia based on SDGs-5 aims to solve the problems which are related to gender. The goal is that women are empowered to be independent so that they can make decisions on their own, which can lay the foundations for the promotion of true gender equality.