ILO and UNTFSSE participate at Catalysing Change Week 2022

The Director of the Enterprises Department of the ILO and Chair of the UN Task Force on the Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE), Mr Vic Van Vuuren has participated in the Catalysing Change Week 2022, an international event to unlock and accelerate the potential of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE).

News | 17 May 2022
Catalysing Change Week (CCW) is a global event led by social innovators and entrepreneurs to share knowledge, exchange ideas and accelerate collaborative systems change during more than 250 sessions and activities in a dedicated annual week. This year, the event was held from 9 to 13 May 2022. Coordinated by Catalyst 2030, the CCW2022 brings together social entrepreneurs, representatives from the private sector, governments, funders and others involved in systems change, to inspire change in support of achieving the SDGs.

Mr Vic Van Vuuren, the Director of ILO Enterprises Department of and Chair of the UNTFSSE was invited to speak at a policy roundtable discussion during the event.

The session “Accelerating Social Economy” focused on how we can accelerate social economies across the globe and create an ecosystem that proactively and systematically addresses the world’s social and environmental issues. The session was organized under the context of the 2022 Pact for Impact event in Paris, which convened Ministries and leading social enterprises to adopt the Coalition Manifesto and Charter commitment toward a Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). The session was moderated by Mr Frederic Bailly from GROUPE SOS with discussants from international organizations, governments and SSE communities.

In his intervention, Mr Van Vuuren talked about the political momentum for a UN resolution on the SSE. A number of European governments are playing a leading role in this, including the French and the Spanish government, he noted. Having a group of countries will be crucial for leading such a process. He further highlighted that the General Discussion on SSE and Decent work at the International Labour Conference of the ILO in June 2022 presents a unique opportunity to explore how the SSE is contributing to advance the Decent Work Agenda and a human-centred future of work. The conference will provide the platform for constituents to discuss the definition, components, principles, limits, and the added value of the SSE.

Other panellists of the session were Mr Francois Bonnici from World Economic Forum, Ms Maravillas Espín from Spanish Ministry of labor and social economy, Mr Thomas BOISSON from French Ministry of economy, finance and recovery and Ms Ancuta Vamesu from RISE Romaina. The speakers introduced the development and framework of the SSE in their countries and the initiatives their respective organizations are undertaking to support the mainstreaming and understanding of SSE. The speakers agreed that an ecosystem with political support, legal framework, multilateral collaboration and partnership on the SSE is needed to advance the economic model and its potential in contributing to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Agenda.