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Encouraging social inclusionEncouraging social inclusion
Defining social inclusion often comes down to including anything that works against exclusion within society. It means actively including those that may be excluded from the whole for economic, social or cultural reasons. Ericka Cogne, Chief Executive Officer of the Télémaque association, and Davide Forcella, Director of the Just Sustainability Transitions (JuST) Institute, share their vision of social inclusion.
“Social inclusion aims to work on the issue of connection in order to bring together worlds that, without it, would never meet.”
There are many levers of action to promote inclusion. Among the most frequently cited are access to infrastructure and social services, redistribution systems aiming to reduce poverty, equal recognition of all populations and communities, and equal opportunities, from schooling to the workplace.
Inclusion, a right and a duty
Inclusion is a priority issue for the United Nations, whose guiding principle for the 2030 sustainable development programme is leave no one behind. “Inclusion is both a right and a duty,” affirms Ericka Cogne, Chief Executive Officer of the Télémaque association, which has been mobilising for equal opportunities in education since 2005. “Our association works to give each young person their place in society, regardless of their gender, origin, age, socio-professional category or the region in which they live. Through mentoring, the aim is to create conditions in which young people from vulnerable backgrounds can evolve and interact with a wider ecosystem.” This proactive vision is shared by Davide Forcella, Director of the JuST Institute, launched in November 2022 by BNP Paribas and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), established by the World Bank. “By bringing together financial institutions and enterprises, we want to promote a just transition, making it possible to combine the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss with social and financial inclusion. We are driven by the firm belief that a just transition is a transition that strengthens resilience to climate change and biodiversity erosion for low-income households, smallholders and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and includes them when defining and implementing sustainable practices and technologies."
Preserving the planet, reducing inequalities
Advancing inclusion requires taking steps to preserve the planet and fight growing inequalities. An imperative at the heart of the actions of both the JuST Institute and Télémaque. “Without a just transition, no transition is possible,” insists Davide Forcella. “This is why we coordinate the actions of public and private transition funders, acting on four levers: provide them with a common methodological and operational framework, create the conditions for traceability through the analysis and certification of the practices and portfolios of financial institutions, encourage their skills development through continuous training and support, and develop and distribute adapted financial products.” Four levers that are prerequisites for improving the quality of sustainable financing for the most vulnerable populations, such as smallholder farmers, rural communities and women living in poverty in these areas.