Dakar Declaration, November 2005

WE WILL MOBILISE IN ORDER TO:
1. Continue to promote Social Solidarity Economy in a sustainable development perspective. Increase it’s political impact by using different opportunities such as the World Social Forum and addressing multilateral and continental organisations such as the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO, the ILO and the UN with a view to obtaining fundamental reforms of the Bretton Woods institutions.
2. Systematically optimise information flow by the use of new technologies of information and communication, as well as local radio. Identify local leaders who support the concepts in local authorities, associations, universities and companies, and provide them with the means to network. Disseminate the progress of Dakar 2005 in each of our networks, and actively pursue our advocacy to influence the Governments in all countries of the world.
3. Remain politically vigilant in order to prevent multinational firms from recuperating the fruit of years of struggle. RIPESS maintains that the finality of all economic activity must be satisfaction of fundamental human rights of the peoples (political, civic, economic, social and cultural).
4. Enrich its fields of interest and its methodological approach through the identification of continental priorities, and an in-depth approach to certain themes such as gender balance, international debt, famine in Sub Saharan Africa, social entrepreneurship and new dynamics of co-operatives, making room for youth, the contribution of culture, fair agriculture and social and solidarity tourism.
5. Develop social and ethical finance at all levels, share innovative management tools including information, support migrants initiatives and promote the strengthening of local currencies.
6. Foster popular alternatives to the private and state model of development. Protect access to water and end privatisation as a means of defending economic, social and cultural human rights. Develop local-up systems for integrating and articulating solidarity finance, responsible production, ethical consumption, proximity services and knowledge sharing. Fully include the contribution of women, youth, the disabled and minorities in the renewal of development models. Promote the alliance of Social and Solidarity Economy stakeholders.
7. Promote fair trade at all levels by, (a) access to diversified quality products, in sufficient quantities and at reasonable prices, (b) establishing alternative certification (for example between regions and countries of the South), (c) introducing guarantee systems adapted to the realities of producer and consumer countries (for example in regions of countries of the South), (d) setting up new socio-economic partnerships in order to increase or diversify the types of production or services provided.
8. Advocate the cancellation of the illegitimate and odious third world debt, (b) develop intermediate strategies such as citizens auditing, querying the IMF program called «Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative», (c) establish a just and transparent arbitration process of the debt based on an international financial code, (d) introduce mechanisms to reduce debt to favour of social investment, with the participation of civil society in the conception, management and supervision of the process, (e) give priority to the payment of the social and environmental debt rather than the external financial debt of the countries concerned.
9. Build a partnership for sustainable development between political leadership and civil society in order to jointly develop public policy. This framework should include a culture of dialogue and joint responsibility in the conception, articulation and application of public policies. These policies should favour of an integrated system of Social Solidarity Economy. The regulatory function of the State requires careful monitoring, including the promotion of genuine social responsibility of economic stakeholders and introduction of public policies that are articulated at local, national and international levels. Special attention should be paid to the social protection of the vulnerable (women, children, handicapped, elderly, etc.). Public Authorities should be encouraged to co-operate with neighbouring authorities and to network at all levels with the view to promoting Social Solidarity Economy in the institutional arena.
10. Continue the initiative of the Fair Trade Village started in Dakar in order to develop dynamics of partnership and dialogue with participants and hold grass-roots demonstrations in city centres in order to make Social Solidarity Economy more visible.
11. Recognize the fundamental contribution of women to collective life and vigorously develop their rights to equal participation at all levels of decision-making (economic, social and political), and recognise of all types of work they do. RIPESS takes up and supports all proposals made by the women’s caucus in order to ensure gender balance within its ranks: an equal continental representation, an equal representation at all levels of the organisation (committees, workgroups, panels, conferences, etc,) maintain the women’s caucus, establish a strategic supervision committee composed of women and find means that enable women from the South to participate.
12. Recognize the place of youth in Social Solidarity Economy and establish the necessary means to permit their full participation since they represent the future. Examine the proposal for creating an intercontinental network «Youth and SSE».
13. To Work for the mobilisation of farmers’ and other civil society organisations in countries of the North as well as in countries of the South to confront the risks related to negotiations with the WTO and encourage them to defend and exercise the principle of regional food sovereignty by supporting (a) food security for all, (b) the right to a fair price for agricultural products, (c) the family farming model (d) the right of all countries to manage their internal markets, (e) the right of countries to protect their territories and resources.

WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO
1.Respond better to the aspirations of stakeholders and partners in building an open and democratic governance process concerning questions of membership, decision-making and organisational matters. Reinforce the network with which all Social Solidarity Economy stakeholders can identify
2.Support the reinforcement of Social Solidarity Economy networks in all continents and increase their political impact by deepening dialogue between actors from the State and civil society in the joint development of public policy to enable the development of Social Solidarity Economy.
3.Innovate in approaches and organisation of solidarity markets at the local level, codify them in order to explicitly allow for the expression of this solidarity between actors at local level, and actively work to renew links between urban consumers and rural producers in an equitable manner.
4.Use education, especially non-formal education, in the support of Social Solidarity Economy
5.Support the organisation of the 4th Meeting in Belgium in 2007, anniversary year of the start of our process in 1997, in accordance with the principle of alternating meetings between North and South. This meeting will allow greater acknowledgement of the dynamics of stakeholders in the European Union and all member States of the Council of Europe, which will help extend our networks to Central and Eastern Europe Countries (CEEC).

There are many challenges and difficulties will have to be overcome. We nevertheless leave this meeting with the firm conviction that we are on the path to «Empowering People».

Read more: http://www.ripess.net/en/