Organising International Progressive Alliances

Together with our members and allies all around the world we focus on the realisation of economic and social rights, including decent work, investments to develop quality essential services and universal social protection systems, not subject to privatisation. We strive for and encourage cooperation and alliances that advances the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development, that pushes just transition with focus on the creation of decent jobs and the transition to an economic model that respects human and environmental rights, and that fights for an enabling environment for civil society organisations and trade unions. 

We work to:  

• Support progressive alliances in Europe and beyond is key to achieve progressive sustainable development. SOLIDAR shall do this together with our member organisations, the trade union movement and other networks which share our values and principles.  

• Promote social justice through campaigns and advocacy on a just transition, decent work, freedom of association, enabling space, and access to quality public services.  

• Advocate for and monitoring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. SOLIDAR shall be a visible and outspoken participant on the international cooperation arena monitoring the implementation of the Economic and Social Rights related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  We facilitate members´ participation in structured dialogues  with the EU and in international events. 

• Enhance Members’ coordination and cooperation at country, regional and global levels. Developing mechanisms for swift facilitation of cooperation between members involved in international solidarity actions

SOLIDAR – EU Framework Partnership Agreement: local to global engagment and dialogue on EU development cooperation. 

In 2015, SOLIDAR signed a Framework Partnership Agreement with the EU* and, in December 2018, the grant Agreement “Organising International Solidarity: Structuring Local to Global CSOs Engagement on Development Cooperation Issues” (OIS).   

Through this strategic partnership, SOLIDAR will continue to develop the “SOLIDAR brand” with donors and the EU community in Brussels and in the field, facilitate improved access to policy processes for its members, partners and allies, while also facilitating strengthened contacts between member organisations in various countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Discover where do we work and what we do here. 

By developing the capacity of SOLIDAR International Cooperation Network[1] as a contributors to all phases of policy making processes on development issues at EU, Regional and International levels, we want to  

1) Promote a sustainable development model that serves the many and not the few, that has the full realization of human and environmental rights as its main objective; 

2) Ensure the progressive realization of economic and social rights, namely decent work, social protection and freedom of association. 

For more information, contact Barbara Caracciolo | Alba Gonzalez  

* Since its 2012 Communication entitled “The roots of democracy and sustainable development: Europe’s engagement with Civil Society in external relations”[2], the European Union adopted a policy shift to support civil society not only as provider of aid but also as a pivotal actor of governance acknowledging the role of CSOs' to build stronger democratic processes, accountability systems and to achieve better development outcomes. The need for a strategic engagement with CSOs has become more stringent for the EU in the light of the adoption, in 2015, of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs. Indeed, as acknowledged by the EU “the implementation of the SDGs will depend on a Global Partnership for Sustainable development with the active engagement of … civil society...”.  In order to implement this policy shift, the European Commission established, amongst other things, Framework Partnership Agreements (FPAs) with CSO. 

As stated in SOLIDAR's New Organisational Strategy, published in June 2021.

The outreach of our International Cooperation Forum's members