We, citizens belonging to: grassroots, farmers, natives, women, youth organizations; employers’ organizations; working communities; cooperatives, micro-enterprises associations; associations of the Church; Non Governmental Organizations; groups of environmentalists, associations of technologists; development networks; groups on social economy and a coalitions of 32 countries gathered from 1st to 4th of July 1997 in Lima, Peru are declaring:

1. We are taking into account that we are under the hegemony of a development model which shows, both in the North and the South, its limits while destroying the planet and generating poverty, exclusion, and ignores the set of human activities which are of paramount importance for the communities, representing thus a threat for the future of mankind;

And in an attempt to react to this situation, that we are committed to a process of building a solidarity-based development that questions the concept which reduces and determines the satisfaction of human needs to cut-throat competition on the market and the so-called “natural laws”. The solidarity economy incorporates cooperation, collective sharing and action, while putting the human being at the center of the economic and social development.

Solidarity economy implies at the same time an economic, political and social project which leads to a new way of doing politics while establishing various human links on the basis of consensus and citizenship actions.

Solidarity economy is featured by bringing light on economic practices which used to be hushed up. It aims at transforming informal and popular economy into a common law economy, and to recognize the social production work which is mostly done by women, and which enables the functioning of the economy. It questions extra work and the transfer of responsibilities by the State and the market.

It also stresses on the contribution of the work of children, teenagers, youths, while seeking the protection of its integrity and the watching upon their rights.

Solidarity in economy has the challenge of providing an answer to face technological changes in the world, by emphasizing on the need to share information, knowledge and markets, as well as production, marketing and innovating strategies in rural and urban areas.

Social solidarity economy is marked by development processes which simultaneously involve local, national, international, urban and rural aspects, starting from local capacity building based on education processes on quality.

Solidarity in economy is seen in an ethical point of view which is inherent to life and the daily relationships of people with a view to harmony between the human beings and the nature, the construction of justice and peace, happy coexistence and the happiness of all men and women.

Solidarity in the economy is a lever for:
• Allowing for the development of every one and their accountability in the implementation of socially useful activities;
• Community capacity building to ensure equity;
• Promoting a more egalitarian distribution of the resources of the planet in a context of sustainable development, respect for life and cultural diversity, as well as enhancement of democracy.
• Boosting campaigns in the North and in the South to promote fair trade; developing citizenship awareness of “consumers” who are alert on the protection and protection of codes of ethics in the economy and promoting the change of unsustainable production and consumption patterns.

Solidarity economy is a medium and long term process. Therefore, it is vital and crucial to work with new generations.

Solidarity in economy is sustained by initiatives of the civil society in order to enhance the potential of those who are excluded (youths, women, indigenous…)

Encouraging accountability and involvement of all sectors involved and the various organizational forms of social movements (associative, union, women, youth movements…)

The solidarity economy relates to taking an active attitude in the economy. It seeks a righteous price and quality, using modern instruments of local, national and international trade, but acting in an organized way for the implementation of economic and social projects.

2. The necessary conditions for strengthening the solidarity economy are the following:

• Ensuring a real right to innovation and creativity together with the duty to transparency, given that its strength lies in the interconnection of local transaction processes and citizen action.
• Outlining a proposal for the entire economy and society; being able to promote and develop a dialog with the State, the private sector and the civil society.
• Taking into account the differentiated conditions between women and men; promoting equitable gender relations, not only in the daily life, but also in all the decision-making bodies.
• Promoting equality for access to resources: loans, technology, education and capacity building.
• Demanding the State to fulfill its social responsibilities and ensure universal human rights for the citizenship to be really experienced; which implies the restructuring of the State in the North and the South, to be open to the co-management with civil society networks; building a social State in the South.
• Reaching higher levels of democratic institutionalization with an incidence on the political arena.
• Articulating network type initiatives, while respecting the historical specificities of each country and the cultural diversity; which requires an change in the North – South cooperation, making progresses in the South – South and South – North cooperation; and promoting new forms of decentralized cooperation
• Some types of networks are those involved in research, communication, experimentation, trade, technological exchanges, etc.
• Strengthening and developing a civil society with a variety of actors who are seeking to articulate both on the national and the international levels.

3. On the grounds of the above, we are committed:

• To build social networks in each of our countries, in the various fields of the solidarity development.
• Exchanging working materials, including from carrying out researches to making concrete experiments.
• Spreading the results of the International Solidarity Globalization Conference to all the walks of life through the means available to us.