Social and Solidarity Economy Organizations and Enterprises

Description

"While many SSE organizations and enterprises (SSEOEs) are established to respond to specific needs of people and communities, some also aim to transform the economic operating system into the ones based on such values as participatory democracy, solidarity, equity, human and Earth rights, self-determination, mutuality and cooperation. All SSEOESs emphasizes human social values and ethics in economic activity and relations, and economic practices built upon democratic governance and self-management, reciprocity, solidarity, and active citizenship. Over the last decades, SSEOEs have rapidly grown in numbers in both developed and developing countries. Organized at the grassroot level, they have contributed to mitigating long-run damaging trends such as a rise in poverty and inequality especially in the developed world, environmental degradation and de-industrialization placing skilled workers into unemployment. Furthermore, SSEOEs play a pivotal role to offer social services across communities especially in a time where government budgets are stressed and subject to cutbacks. In addition to providing fair services SSEOEs have by and large demonstrated a remarkable capacity as employers to maintain and create jobs in times of crises where the government and the market failed."

(https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/social_and_solidarity_economy_29_march_2023.pdf)