Develop effective solutions to a societal need that is poorly or not at all met, use innovations to combat social and/or environmental inequalities.
Mois : juillet 2021
POSITIVE PLANET INTERNATIONAL JOINS SOS GROUP TO PERPETUATE AND DEVELOP ITS ACTIVITIES
Positive Planet International, until then a branch of the Positive Planet collective, founded in 1998 by Jacques Attali, is joining SOS Group, in order to perpetuate its activities: preventing the emergence and persistence of precarious situations in the least developed countries. Positive Planet and SOS Group are working together to facilitate this transition.
A non-governmental organisation, Positive Planet International has enabled more than 2 million beneficiaries worldwide, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, to carry out positive economic initiatives through programmes supporting positive entrepreneurship.
As with many NGOs, the Covid-19 crisis and associated travel restrictions have made PPI’s operations difficult to implement. As a result, the organisation’s sources of funding have been restrained. After several weeks of discussions with SOS Group, the Positive Planet teams transferred the activities of Positive Planet International, now PPI, to SOS Group, Europe’s leading social enterprise and a major player in the social and solidarity economy. The activities of Positive Planet France, the Foundation and the Positive Economy Institute are not affected by this decision.
PPI thus joins the International Action sector of SOS Group
The social enterprises and associations of SOS Group International Action already work in more than 30 countries to promote respect for fundamental rights and the environment, inclusive and sustainable economic development, and the emergence of socially innovative projects. The Positive Planet Collective and SOS Group are committed to supporting and preserving the 78 jobs of PPI’s competent and motivated employees, so that this change of governance is as simple and constructive as possible. Positive Planet and SOS Group are working together to facilitate this transition.
The arrival of PPI within SOS Group aims to perpetuate and pursue the indispensable missions of the non-governmental organisation with its thousands of beneficiaries and its technical and financial partners. The mission and vision of the association remain the same: to fight against poverty in the world by developing economic, social and environmental inclusion in a sustainable and equitable manner. PPI joins the « economic development and inclusion » division of the International Action sector of SOS Group. Synergies with other associations in the sector will be sought and deepened to ensure a pooling of resources and know-how, always with the aim of maximising impact and supporting the most vulnerable populations.
Open-up to Europe thanks to the Erasmus+ accreditation !
EU’s Erasmus+ programme is becoming more accessible and easier to implement, thanks to new tools that facilitate the application process for organizations. Four SOS GROUP structures have seized this opportunity and obtained an Erasmus+ accreditation, a simpler way to access European mobility activities.
The Erasmus+ Accreditation: an easier gateway to Erasmus+ mobility
For more than 30 years, the Erasmus program has offered the possibility to European students, apprentices, trainers, job seekers and young graduates to go abroad and do travel and study trips throughout Europe.
Since 2021, the Erasmus+ program has become even more open and accessible thanks to the Erasmus+ Accreditation, a simplified way to apply for grants from the Erasmus program. Once accredited, organizations can ask mobility grants during seven years (2021-2027) without having to apply for a mobility grant each year. That gives the possibility to awarded candidates to travel in Europe and around the world, in order to open up to cross-border exchanges, observe new practices, carry out training periods and cooperate between professionals of the same sector in foreign countries.
The Erasmus+ Accreditation shows the European Union’s political will to open mobility opportunities to a larger number of participants and a wider range of organizations.
Thanks to the Erasmus+ accreditation, four SOS GROUP organizations will have access to European mobility opportunities
In October 2020, four SOS GROUP organizations obtained the Erasmus+ accreditation.
Plateforme-i, Acta Vista, Pulse and Silver Fourchette now have the possibility to send their staff and beneficiaries on training and professional trips throughout Europe between 2021 and 2027.
Focus on the accredited organizations:
– Plateforme-i implements programs for inclusion in employment, in order to offer support to young people who are struggling to enter the professional world. Through European exchanges, Plateforme-i aims to improve social inclusion by spreading its programs beyond the Paris region.
– Acta Vista is a non-profit organization specialized in professional integration and training through the preservation of endangered historical heritage sites. Acta Vista’s staff and trainees will discover complementary training methods in the field of heritage renovation, thanks to European mobility opportunities.
– Silver Fourchette is a program that promotes a balanced and environmentally friendly diet for seniors. By opening-up to Europe, Silver Fourchette’s teams will improve the educational quality of their content and create new pedagogical teaching methods.
– Pulse is a non-profit organization that aims to create pathways towards entrepreneurship as a lever for inclusive and sustainable development, in Africa and Europe. By sending its staff abroad, Pulse will adapt its expertise to the international context and increase the skills of its teams.
The four organizations will therefore discover new working methods and benefit from cooperation between European partners.
Save the date!
Erasmus+ Accreditation next application deadline is 19 October at 12:00 p.m.
Your organization wishes to benefit from Erasmus+ mobility opportunities with one of the SOS GROUP accredited organizations? Please reach out to:
Contact: chloe.gallien@groupe-sos.org – Director of European projects at SOS GROUP
or
Photo by © European Union, 2021
Generation Equality Forum: SOS GROUP takes concrete action for women
From 30 June to 2 July, Paris is hosting the second phase of the Generation Equality Forum, a global gathering in favour of equality between men and women, organised by UN Women in partnership with youth and civil society. SOS GROUP, committed to gender equality, is proud to participate in the Forum and to be part of the change agents of the Innovation & Technology coalition. For the next 4 years, we will be taking concrete action to ensure that our generation becomes the generation of gender equality.
Generation Equality Forum: a global gathering for gender equality
Accelerating the commitments made at the Beijing World Conference
In 1995, the World Conference on Women held in China led to the signing of the Beijing Platform for Action. In it, governments recognised that « equal rights, equal opportunities and access to resources, equal sharing of family responsibilities and a harmonious partnership between women and men are essential to their well-being and that of their families and to the consolidation of democracy ». The Beijing Conference thus proclaims that equality between women and men is an essential condition for sustainable development, peace, and democracy.
In 2020, the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action was an opportunity to take stock of the evolution of gender equality. While much progress has been made, no country can claim to have achieved gender equality today. This is why the Generation Equality Forum, which commemorates 25 years of the Beijing Platform for Action, aims to mark a major step forward in accelerating the implementation of global commitments to gender equality.
A Forum to bring together gender equality actors 
The Generation Equality Forum is a global gathering for gender equality, organized by UN Women in partnership with youth and civil society, and co-hosted by the governments of France and Mexico. The Forum began in March in Mexico City and will conclude in Paris from 30 June to 2 July 2021, where a series of concrete, ambitious and transformative actions will be launched to achieve immediate and irreversible progress towards gender equality.
At the heart of the Forum is UN Women’s unprecedented multi-generational advocacy campaign: « Generation Equality: For Women’s Rights and an Equal Future ». The campaign aims to bring together the next generation of women’s rights activists, gender equality advocates, and visionaries who were instrumental in creating the Beijing Platform for Action more than 20 years ago. Collectively, these changemakers of all ages and genders have the capacity to meet the challenge of women’s empowerment, a goal that has yet to be achieved.
SOS GROUP committed to putting innovation and technology at the heart of gender equality
Within the Forum, different actors are organising themselves into action coalitions: multi-stakeholder, global and innovative partnerships that will mobilise governments, civil society, international organisations, and the private sector. Their objective: to launch a series of concrete, ambitious, and immediate targeted actions over the period 2020-2025, in order to make a real impact on gender equality and the rights of girls and women.
SOS GROUP deeply believes in the power of innovation and technology to change mindsets and promote gender equality. This is why we are proud to participate in the Generation Equality Forum and to be part of the change agents of the Innovation & Technology coalition.
We are determined to make this generation the equality generation!
What are the concrete commitments made by SOS GROUP?
What are the concrete commitments made by SOS GROUP? Between now and 2025, SOS GROUP is committed to significantly increasing awareness-raising actions to counter gender stereotypes in the social and solidarity economy in France, Europe, and Africa. SOS GROUP will carry out several major mobilisation campaigns alongside players in the social and solidarity economy and will publish at least three high-level white papers.
By 2025, SOS GROUP is also committed to funding and operating a multi-stakeholder initiative to bridge the digital divide for women and promote women’s entrepreneurship and leadership in technology and innovation. The goal is to train 50,000 women in digital skills and to support 1,000 women in entrepreneurship in the tech, social, cultural, and media sectors.
SOS GROUP, long committed to women
In terms of technology and innovation for gender equality, SOS GROUP is already engaged to bridge the digital divide and strengthen women’s leadership and entrepreneurship to counter and overcome gender stereotypes. For example, we have :
- Set up a nationwide digital mediation scheme in France, drawing on the expertise of our association Reconnect;
- Increased access to training and digital skills for marginalised girls and women in Afghanistan and Romania, through the associations Afghanistan Libre and Ateliere Fara Frontiere;
- Extensive experience in promoting entrepreneurship and incubating impactful businesses for and by women in the technology, social, cultural and media sectors in Europe, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, through the Pulse incubator network, the Creatis entrepreneurial residency, and the French Tech h7 totemic space;
- Developed strategic advocacy campaigns to reduce gender stereotypes in early childhood in France (by Crescendo), among youth and educators in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa (by PLAY International), and among job seekers in France through an anti-stereotype recruitment campaign in the social economy;
- Built alliances and synergies to unite social economy actors around gender equality, through our role in the global alliance Pact for Impact;
- Tested and scaled up grassroots responses to women’s empowerment and inclusion in France (through the Josephine network of beauty salons and the MANA Women’s School).
The diversity of SOS GROUP operations and the variety of sectors can greatly contribute to promoting women’s access and leadership in tech and innovation. Let’s continue to work together for equality for all!
Photos credits : 1. et 2. ONU FEMMES 3. EllesEnsemble, Comptoir, PULSE