Community Economic Development

These articles were written during the Dakar 2005 Conference on the globalization of Solidarity, in November 2005.  This professional seminar was a forum for discussions and decision-making, and allowed more than 100 Canadian delegates and Uniterra partners in southern countries to participate in concrete social solidarity economy networking and encouragement. They promote North-South partnerships in social economy as a mean to reduce poverty.

The Human Being  at the Centre of Economic Development

Roch Harvey, Uniterra
Just as sharing knowledge and know-how contribute to the definition of the concept of the social economy, establishing partnerships is equally as important and is a way of reducing the gap between rich and poor.

Reinforcing the People’s Power to Act

Rosalie Adwayi Diop, program coordinator for the RIPESS technical team
Ethel Côté, Uniterra delegation coordinator and RIPESS program committee member

The Dakar 2005 Meeting, the Third International Meeting on the Globalization of Solidarity - third because it follows meetings in Lima, Peru, in 1997 and Québec City, Canada in 2001 - began today, November 22, at the BCEAO Aéré Centre, in the greater Dakar region.

            

An Urgent Call : Building our Globalization from the Grassroots Up

Jacques Gauthier

Gérald Larose, Professor of Social Work at the University of Québec in Montréal, and organizer of the social economy movement in Quebec and worldwide summarized the actions of economy militants: “We are waging a battle to build globalization from the grassroots up!”

Towards a More Local World Based on Solidarity

Michael Lewis, of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet), spoke of the “long emergency”: changing the way we live, consume, and produce. He demonstrated this urgency by fervently discussing the oil supply and how little time it has left

Africa and its Vision of the Social Solidarity Economy

Roch Harvey, Uniterra

The Dakar 2005 Meeting is a first for the African continent. It allows alternative globalization to set its sights on a region that is too often neglected by the strong currents of the global economy and it offers the Dark Continent a forum to demonstrate its own development goals.

 

The Wheels of the Social Solidarity Economy are Well Greased

Jacques Gauthier

 Gérald Larose, Vice-president of RIPESS and President of the Groupe d’économie solidaire du Québec (GESQ) for whom Dakar 2005 was a success that has delivered the hoped-for results lists five achievements.