Catalyst 2030 co-hosted a session on the UN Resolution, Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development as a side event at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September. The session, organised by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship, highlighted the private sector’s role in implementing a social and solidarity economy.
Private sector commits to a social economy
During the event, Alexandra van der Ploeg, Head of CSR at SAP, and Jean-Philippe Courtois, Executive Vice President at Microsoft presented an open letter to the UN Task Force affirming the private sector’s commitment to the social economy. Other organisations, including IKEA Social Entrepreneurship and Deloitte, also confirmed their support and highlighted opportunities for public-private sector collaboration and the integration of social innovation principles into mainstream business.
The session discussed Catalyst 2030’s aim to foster collaboration and communication built on trust. Chantal Line Carpentier, Head of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force for Social & Solidarity Economy said in the meeting, “We all need each other to succeed and through working together we can do better and we will learn and evolve together as we go forward.” Rana Dajani from the Catalyst 2030 Governing Council, emphasised that Catalyst 2030 is creating an ecosystem of multiple stakeholders at country level with proximate leaders at the forefront to alleviate poverty and promote prosperity.
The side event brought together social innovators, intermediaries, companies and international organisations, including Mia Seppo from the International Labour Organization, Dr Ashok Khosla from Development Alternatives and Dan Viederman from Working Capital Fund and Catalyst 2030 who added their voices to the discussions.
Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum, highlighted the significance of collective initiatives, like the Forum’s First Movers Coalition, in scaling private sector support for the social economy and integrating social innovation principles into mainstream business and policy.
For more information, read This is why the private sector just came out in support of the social economy.