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I like to think of solidarity as not a mere word but as an act.

Today we are in Athens with dozens of representatives from national social NGOs in solidarity with Greek citizens personally impacted by the crisis.

Our President Heather is leading a large delegation of representatives from our European members to listen to, exchange and debate with national members of our European networks. We want to discuss together how the EU can bring social progress in a member state like Greece through social investment, a rebalancing of European economic governance with social priorities,  and the better use of EU funds to deliver on alleviating poverty and social exclusion. In solidarity, we will go beyond words to come up with joint proposals on how the EU can deliver on actions, not on words.

Solidarity with Greece is also about bringing national members together in the same room with the Minister of Employment and Social Affairs who will be responsible for the social priorities of the Greek presidency of the European Union. Tomorrow we will have a conference with a hundred representatives from Greek NGOs who will be able to exchange with their minister about the EU priorities for the next six months – so they can voice their concerns and proposals to an important decision maker during the next six months.

In solidarity, we will not stop cooperating after tomorrow. We will continue to exchange with Greek national NGOs over the next six months and in particular during the important events to be held during the Presidency on active inclusion, social economy and the informal meeting of all ministers of Employment and Social Affairs in April 2014.

Finally, I have been very pleased in the last 3 months by all the efforts made by the team to ensure that we continue to have this event in EU countries. They worked beyond their areas of expertise, in cooperation… in solidarity.

This is the definition of the solidarity I cherish.

Let’s engage

Pierre Baussand – Director