2024 ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY: SHAPING A FAIR AND SUSTAINABLE EUROPE AFTER THE EU ELECTIONS

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On 27^th June 2024, SOLIDAR held its Annual General Assembly, bringing together its board and staff members to reflect on the past year’s achievements, discuss future strategies for the post-elections phase and reinforce SOLIDAR’s positions by welcoming new members.  

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Mikael Leyi, Secretary General from SOLIDAR, Anne Van Lacker, SOLIDAR President and their host Dennis Stokkink, President of Pour La Solidarité kicked off the event by emphasizing the power of SOLIDAR as a network and the importance of coming together to fight for social justice. 

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SOLIDAR is growing: Welcome to our new members!

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SOLIDAR is happy to welcome new organisations among its members. Their addition to the team brings a diverse range of skills and experiences and is expected to infuse fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to our network. SOLIDAR welcomes warmly:  

• Dafni Kek, a Greek organisation whose aim is to support the vocational training and adult education sector. 
• Internews Kossova  which promotes the growth of civil society and the development of independent, professional media in Kosovo. 
• Comisiones Obreras – CCOO, the largest Spanish workers’ union. 
• POVOD, a Slovenian NGO focused on international development, SDGs, policy advocacy, lifelong education and enhancing intercultural learning for civil society. 

In parallel, CDI, ​IDC and ​Pour La Solidarité moved from affiliated to full members and OGBL to affiliated.  

2023 in a nutshell

2023 has been an intense year for SOLIDAR as the presentation of the annual activity report demonstrated.

Here are some highlights: 

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Elisa Gambardella, SOLIDAR Foundation Education & Lifelong Learning Coordinator, also gave an overview of all capacity building activities for members that were organized by SOLIDAR & SOLIDAR Foundation in 2023:

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Sketching out SOLIDAR’s strategy to advance social justice

In the afternoon, members and staff came together to sketch our SOLIDAR’s strategic orientation for the next years. Members were able to share their thoughts on five different topics: 

• Geopolitical shifts and Europe’s role on the world stage
• Democracy access, inclusion and participation
• Governing the digital revolution 
• The planetary crisis: climate and environment
• Social and economic inequality, injustice  and discriminations

Political debate: the way forward for Progressive movements

In the afternoon, SOLIDAR organised a debate on the strategies for progressive forces after the EU elections. The discussion was introduced by a presentation from Marcin Duma, President of IBRIS Foundation, which set the scene of the EU elections results. He defined which factors shaped the outcomes of the elections, how the different demographic groups contributed to these results and what were the main regional variations. 

A panel discussion followed on the lessons learned, coalition-building strategies, and long-term vision with:  

• Dr. Ania Skrzypek, Head of Policy, Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS)
• Laurent Standaert, Director, Green European Foundation (GEF) 
• Ismael Gonzalez, Coordinator, Party of the European Left 

The discussion was chaired by Elisa Gambardella, SOLIDAR Foundation Education & Lifelong Learning Coordinator and ended with a Q&A with the audience.

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Concluding remarks

Anne Van Lancker, President of SOLIDAR  closed the 2024 Annual Assembly by reminding that even if conservative forces grew after the EU elections, our role as civil society remains crucial. SOLIDAR is committed to social justice, democracy, climate action, and an economy that benefits all. We are ready to work with our allies and partners to make this vision a reality.