The 38th UNTFSSE meeting was held virtually on 24 February 2022. It brought together 45 participants from six member organizations (ILO, UNRISD, UNDP, UNCTAD, ESCAP and OECD), twelve observer organizations (CIRIEC, EURICSE, Catalyst2030, DIESIS, GSEF, Euclid Network, Social Economy Europe, SSE International Forum, RIPESS, CSEND, EESC and ICA) and three resource persons.
The meeting started with a review of the priority objectives of the new UNTFSSE workplan 2022-2024, as discussed during the third UNTFSSE technical symposium held in December 2021.
Reflections on mainstreaming and enhancing the international dimension of the SSE were shared, including the ongoing discussion around a possible UN resolution on the SSE. The general discussion on Decent work and the SSE at the 110th session of the International Labour Conference of the ILO; the upcoming OECD guiding principles on the SSE; and the forthcoming UN Economist Network SSE policy brief are also other developments on the SSE in the international policy arena.
Updates on the ongoing and future activities of the Knowledge Hub were shared, including the progress around the project funded by the Luxemburg Government on the development of a SSE Encyclopedia and the drafting and publication of new UNTFSSE Position Paper. During the meeting a new concept note around and SSE global training/sensitization curricula on SSE was tabled by the ILO and the ITC-ILO. Updates on possible regional activities of the UNTFSSE were also discussed.
The meeting continued with the presentation of the current communication strategy of the task force, including the tools on sharing relevant member information especially pertaining to events, projects and publications.
As part of updates from members, the Growth team at the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) of the UNDP shared its approach and work related to the SSE, and provided other members with information on their recent and upcoming activities on SSE.
Common synergies for future events were also discussed, in particular within the framework of the Pact for the Impact Alliance event on March 4th 2022 in Paris; “Social economy, the future of Europe” on 5- 6 May 2022 in Strasburg; the Mont Blanc Meetings – Americas on 17, 18 and 19 October 2022 in Colombia and others.