One of the strategic lines that characterises the line of activity followed by CEPES is to increase the prominence of Social Economy on the international stage and for it to be acknowledged as a stakeholder that can contribute solutions to the main global challenges.

CEPES focuses its efforts on Europe, the Mediterranean region and Latin America with the aim of supporting Social Economy enterprises that play a significant role in stable job creation, fostering sustainable local development and generating social environments that are conducive to greater equal opportunities for people.

In this regard, CEPES cooperates with the main international organizations representing Social Economy, such as Social Economy Europe, Cooperatives Europe and the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), of which CEPES is a member, or the Mont-Blanc Meetings, by organizing events and leading initiatives that foster and defend Social Economy at an international level, such as the United Nations defining the International Objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Furthermore, CEPES is in close connection to the main international organisations linked to the development of Social Economy, such as:

• UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy
• The International Labour Organization (OIT), which has a specific department for co-operatives and is promoting the International Academy on Social and Solidarity Economy.
• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has its own Department for territorial economic development that specializes in performing analyses and preparing proposals to foster Social Economy at local level, called “LEED Programme”.

The work carried out by CEPES, together with many other national and international stakeholders, is making Social Economy a point of reference for European institutions and other international organisations in regard to building a new economic model that is more transparent, more sustainable and more responsible, with a strong socioeconomic standing, as these figures show:

• At European level, Social Economy represents 10% of undertakings, 15% of GDP and 17% of employment in Europe, in the form of co-operatives, mutual societies, associations and foundations.
• In the Mediterranean Basin, Social Economy is represented by 918,520 enterprises that provide 8.8 million jobs and bring together more than 147 million people.
• Worldwide, co-operatives bring together close to 1,000 million members and generate 100 million jobs, which is 20% more than multinational businesses.