The Director of Enterprises Department at the ILO was the speaker for the ninth webinar session of the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy, Civic Engagement and Responsible Business titled "The Increased Importance of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in the Aftermath of the COVID-19" that took place on June 2, 2020.

Mr. van Vuuren started his presentation giving a definition of the SSE. He then shared the global challenges facing the world today. He shared some statistics on the situation in the world of work before and after the COVID-19.

He underlined the relevance of the values of the SSE in the aftermath of COVID-19. He highlighted some examples of cooperative and other SSE responses from different sectors such as finance, industry and retail. He noted that with their attention to the triple bottom line of people and planet in addition to profit, SSE institutions can be effective partners in achieving sustainable development goals.

In the discussion, he elaborated on issues around the separations between the SSE, public and private sectors, role of policies, financing, education and support institutions in creating an enabling environment for the SSE. He also answered questions around the role of UN institutions and global leaders in integrating cooperatives and wider SSE institutions as beneficiaries of their programmes. His presentation is available here and the recording of the webinar can be accessed here.