African Union (AU) member states have unanimously adopted a 10-year strategy on the social and solidarity economy (SSE), to increase its identity, visibility, and recognition.
The decision was taken at the fifth ordinary session of the AU’s Specialised Technical Committee on Social Development, Labour and Employment, in Addis Ababa.
The event gathered ministers, government experts and international partners in the Ethiopian capital from 29 July – 2 August to consider and adopt strategies and policy measures to enhance social development, labour and employment in the AU’s 55 member states.
The AU states that its 10-year SSE plan presents “a comprehensive policy framework to support African Union regional economic communities and member states in their endeavour to legitimise, support and expand the contributions of the SSE in Africa”.
The plan also aligns with the AU’s Agenda 2063, a strategic framework for the continent.
A brief produced by the AU and the International Labour Organization (ILO) details a number of global developments leading up the the adoption of the AU’s SSE plan, including the ILO’s adoption of a Strategy and Action Plan (2023-2029) concerning decent work and the SSE in 2022, the 2023 UN General Assembly Resolution on promoting the SSE for sustainable development, and the European Commission’s adoption of a new action plan on the social economy in 2021.
The AU SSE plan is the world’s second of its kind after the one adopted by Europe in 2021. Its guiding principles include human rights; gender-sensitivity; inclusivity; decent work; multisectoral and multidisciplinary; multi-statutes approach, integrating national particularities; participation; sustainability; and local development.
The publication names the ILO as a key partner in implementing the strategy, citing its “extensive experience and unique mandate within the UNsystem to promote co-operatives and the broader SSE”.
The ILO’s regional director for Africa, Fanfan Rwanyindo Kayirangwa, congratulated ministers for recognising the SSE’s potential for enhancing decent work and social justice in the region. She underlined the human centred nature of this alternative business model for the world of work, as well as the timeliness of the strategy.
The AU says the plan is expected to significantly contribute to sustainable development, the AU Agenda 2063 and other global development agendas, and that collaboration between the AU, ILO and other partners will be “pivotal” in ensuring that this process is “effective, equitable and sustainable”.
