Historic moment for the Social and Solidarity Economy: the UN General Assembly adopts a resolution

At its 66th plenary meeting on April 18, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development”.

The resolution provides an official definition for the Social and Solidarity Economy and acknowledges that it can contribute to the achievement and localization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Recognizing the role of the Social and Solidarity Economy in promoting democracy and social justice, the resolution also:

Encourages Member States to promote and implement national, local and regional strategies, policies and programmes for supporting and enhancing the social and solidarity economy as a possible model for sustainable economic and social development, taking into account national circumstances, plans and priorities by, inter alia, developing specific legal frameworks, where appropriate, for the social and solidarity economy, making visible, when feasible, the contribution of the social and solidarity economy in the compilation of national statistics and providing fiscal and public procurement incentives, acknowledging the social and solidarity economy in education curricula and capacity-building and research initiatives and reinforcing entrepreneurship and business support, including by facilitating access for social and solidarity economy entities to financial services and funding, and encourages the participation of social and solidarity economy actors in the policymaking process;
Encourages relevant entities of the United Nations development system, including United Nations country teams, to give due consideration to the social and solidarity economy as part of their planning and programming instruments, particularly the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, so as to provide support to States, upon their request and in accordance with their mandates and to identify, formulate, implement and assess coherent and enabling policy measures and frameworks for developing the social and solidarity economy as a tool for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and in this regard acknowledges the work of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy;
Encourages multilateral, international and regional financial institutions and development banks to support the social and solidarity economy, including through existing and new financial instruments and mechanisms adapted to all stages of development;
Requests the Secretary-General to prepare a report, within existing resources, in collaboration with the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy, on the implementation of the present resolution, taking into consideration the contribution of the social and solidarity economy to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and an inclusive, job-rich, resilient and sustainable recovery, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-ninth session, under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, a sub-item entitled “Promoting the social and solidarity economy for sustainable development”.

Download the Resolution