The Social Solidarity Economy
The Social Solidarity Economy refers to a set of economic activities with a social aim which take part in the construction of a new way of living and thinking about the economy through tens of thousands of projects in Northern as well as Southern countries. They take place in urban areas as well as in rural areas, both in the so-called informal and in the formal sectors. The Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS) aims at contributing to a better cohesion of the practices of the Social Solidarity Economy, and to empower the various actors of this sector for action.

Assignments of the RIPESS
Reinforcing dynamics of intercontinental exchanges and the various ways of thinking about the Social Solidarity Economy
Promoting the principles, values, and practices as well as networking of actors of the social solidarity economy
Participating in the social change by the criticism of neoliberalism and the promotion of creative economic initiatives aiming at the inside-out development of our communities.
Making an advocacy in favor of intercultural diversity, democracy and grassroots participation to Community development and human fulfillment
Supporting, advising and following-up on enterprises with social responsibility.

Bodies of the RIPESS
– an International Liaison Commission (ILC) made up of delegates from each continent: Latin America, North America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania. They meet once a year and are responsible for mapping the strategic orientations of the Network;
– a technical team based in Dakar and made up of professional volunteers and employees. It has the responsibility for supporting the ILC in preparing and coordinating activities, in taking stock of state- of-theart initiatives on the scale of the different continents, of connecting various networks of the social solidarity economy, of mapping the program, of ensuring communications and coordinating fundraising.
The Board of directors of the RIPESS is composed of two representatives for each continent, and is currently chaired by Mr Abdou Salam Fall (Senegal). A copresident, Mrs Marie-Caroline Collard (Belgium), is in charge of organizing the next event (4th meeting in April 2007 in Brussels).

Our network
The RIPESS gathers its members around the International Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy as a constructive and sustainable alternative to neo-liberal development strategies. The initiators of the RIPESS are organizations heading national networks. These are particularly the « Grupo Red de Economía Solidaria del Peru
(GRESP) », which organized the first International meeting of the Globalization of Solidarity in Lima in 1997, the «Groupe d’Economie Solidaire du Québec (GESQ) » which organized the second meeting in Québec, Canada, in 2001, and the “ Groupe Sénégalais de l’Economie Sociale et Solidaire (GSESS)” that allowed for the success of the third
meeting of Dakar, Senegal, last November.
The network is made up of more than 60 groups and networks working in various fields of the Social SolidarityEconomy. It refers to a great diversity of actors, namely: handcraft and art-based co-operatives, mutual credit/savings insurance companies and mutual health insurance companies, SMEs and formal and informal small businesses, farmers
groups and cooperatives, trade-unions , women’s groups and associations, associations of nationals and migrants, press and community radio groups, NGOs, associations of traders and industrialists, research and training institutions…

Our priority fields of action Solidarity finances
- grassroots alternatives to privatizations
- local development
- solidarity-based ethical trade
– State/civil society dialog
– Promotion of the social solidarity economy.