Activities | GSEF

The SSE Youth Hub on the continents

The SSE Youth Hub coordinates youth mobilization at the intercontinental scale to support international advocacy and highlight the key role played by young people in the SSE and its initiatives. Its dynamics are applied at the continental level, with the support of continental co-pilots backed by the GSEF and its members.

The continental co-pilots contribute to mobilize young people to co-construct continental advocacies and prepare the adoption of an International Youth Declaration for SSE, presented during the closing ceremony of the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum.

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African dynamic

ABEWE, ethical and fair producers and stakeholders linking platform established in Ivory Coast, copilots the SSE Youth Hub in Africa, under the leadership of Fabrice Balou, responsible of the SSE Youth Hub Africa.

The action of the SSE Youth Hub Africa focuses on 17 countries where the Hub has youth focal points: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and Togo. These youth focal points carry the selection of the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum participants, their preparation before with the support of France Volontaires, and the guidance during and after BordeauxGSEF2025 through local restitutions.

The milestones of the Youth SSE mobilization in Africa were laid at the first SSE Young Leaders Forum, in 2021 in Grand Bassam (Ivory Coast), before the adoption of a renewed youth declaration at the close of the DakarGSEF2023 Forum.

The second edition of the SSE Young Leaders Forum was held in Yamoussoukro (Ivory Coast) from October 29 to 31, 2024. Its theme was “Cooperative entrepreneurship and social innovation: which policies for sustainable integration of young people in territories?”. The Forum brought together over 400 participants from 17 countries, with the objective to strengthen a pan-African community committed to the SSE.

The event was co-organized by the Assembly of Regions and Districts of Ivory Coast (ARDCI), Abewe, and the GSEF SSE Youth Hub, in partnership with local and international stakeholders.

The discussions led to a series of structural recommendations around four main priorities: a favorable legislative framework for youth-led SSE initiatives ; incentive measures (support funds, access to public procurement); capacity building and the creation of an African network of incubators; stronger recognition of SSE through data, volunteering, and the SSE Youth Initiative Booklet, showcasing 40 innovative projects led by young people from 8 countries.

The third edition of the SSE Young Leaders Forum will be held in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2026.

More about the Young Leaders Forum on SSE

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European dynamic

In Europe, the SSE Youth dynamic is copiloted by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region (France), in joint effort with the Regional Social and Solidarity Economy Chamber of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the SSE players’ regional network.

The BilbaoGSEF2018 Forum reunited and mobilized a part of the European and global youth with the adoption of a youth declaration aiming at transforming the SSE into an inclusive space for young people.

Within the framework of the SSE Youth Hub Europe, a local 25-players committee, the PALEX (for Pôle d’Animation Locale EXpérimentée, or Local Experimented Organization Hub) has been created to promote the SSE during youth mobilization times and enable young people to express their ideas and recommendations. A weekend full of debates and discussions was organized in this context in June 2025, in partnership with the URHAJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Habitat Jeunes Sud-Aquitaine.

At the European level, webinars and an advocacy co-construction campaign have been implemented. Strategic partnerships with European networks active in the field of inclusion, youth participation and local democracy have also been initiated.

The Young-STEP EU project has also been launched in partnership with the Erasmus+ agency, to form and strengthen cooperation between youth organizations and networks, with the aim to construct a common European advocacy. Particular attention has been paid to the large representation of the European youth at the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum. The Young-STEP EU project brings together organizations from nine different countries: Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Belgium, Poland and Spain.

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Asian dynamic

NEXT-G, South Korea youth SSE organizations network and GSEF member, is the continental copilot of the SSE Youth Hub Asia. Its action is supported by GSEF members that are present in Asia, particularly in Taïwan, Nepal and Thailand.

As of 2017, the GSEF contributed to the organization of the Global Youth Camp for SSE, reunited in Seoul, which established the first declaration on the role of youth in the SSE, before being completed in the later Forum editions.

The SSE Youth Hub Asia was launched in November 2024 after the participation of the GSEF to the Ecopeace Forum of the DMZ Open Festival in South Korea, at the invitation of NEXT-G. The panel “Innovation for Peace and Ecology: the case of Asian Young Social Entrepreneurs”, in which the GSEF took part, highlighted the key role of the youth facing social and environmental crises, and the importance of local and international cooperations. The discussions strengthened the mobilization for the SSE Youth Hub Asia before the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum.

More about the DMZ Open Festival Ecopeace Forum

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Dynamique Amérique Latine et Caraïbes

The National Social Economy Institute (INAES) of Mexico leads the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) dynamic of the GSEF’s SSE Youth Hub.

The INAES is a key stakeholder in the Youth SSE mobilization in Latin America. As of 2020, the Institute co-organized in partnership with the City of Mexico a discussion on the role of young people in the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During the MexicoGSEF2021 Forum, the INAES supported youth mobilization, which enabled the adoption of a youth declaration.

As part of the SSE Youth Hub, the SSE Youth LAC dynamic was highlighted in September 2024 through a webinar which gave a voice to young players committed to the SSE. That meeting enabled them to express their expectations for the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum. Strong priorities emerged: training, valorization of traditional knowledge, political participation and public policies co-construction. An other webinar about SSE Youth dynamics in Latin America and the Caribbean, was also organized in May 2025 to prepare BordeauxGSEF2025.

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North American dynamic

The SSE Youth dynamic in North America is led by the Youth Wing of the Chantier de l’Économie Sociale, the network of SSE players in Québec (Canada).

The Social Economy Summit, organized by the Chantier de l’Économie Sociale in May 2025, has enabled the mobilization of the North American youth and established a progress report on the continental Youth SSE advocacy before the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum.

The youth manifesto, adopted at the end of the Social Economy Summit, calls for a new direction for social economy: rooted in territories, social economy must be respectful of the planetary limits and act against social crises in an intersectional and decolonial perspective. The manifesto seeks therefore to establish an action plan aiming at giving the social economy movement its strongly political nature and engage a reflection accordingly.

The final declaration of the Social Economy Summit also emphasizes the substantial role of young people, which are “mobilizing and seizing the social economy to find solutions that meet the challenges and change our prospects for future development”.

Partnerships have also been built with several organizations within the framework of the SSE Youth Hub North American to facilitate the co-construction and the adoption of a continental advocacy for the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum.

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