During the opening ceremony, held at the conference hall of the City Hall in the Ochre City, Abdesslam Bikrat, Wali of the Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz region and Governor of the Marrakech province, emphasised that the values of solidarity are an integral part of the Kingdom's ancestral heritage. In this regard, he specified that the social and solidarity economy currently holds capital importance in the context of globalisation. The Wali stated that this economic sector contributes efficiently to combating certain harmful effects of globalisation. He also did not fail to recall the involvement of associations, as essential partners, in the implementation of INDH projects, a Royal Initiative that aims to preserve the dignity of populations living in precarious conditions. In a speech read on her behalf, the Minister of Handicrafts and Social Economy, Fatima Marouan, considered this meeting an important moment of exchange and consultation to better position the sector within the development policies of "our respective countries". She also recalled that the African Network for Social and Solidarity Economy was born in Morocco, a millennial land, she said, where solidarity is a deeply rooted culture, constantly revived by the will of His Majesty King Mohammed VI to make the act of solidarity a factor of unity in the fight against precariousness and exclusion. In conclusion, Ms Marouan stressed that the Sovereign's recent visits to several African countries have inaugurated and strengthened this new era of collaboration and sharing of experiences between different African countries, including in the field of social and solidarity economy. Bagayoko Aminata Traoré, a parliamentarian in the Malian National Assembly, spoke on behalf of the African delegations to highlight that the global financial crisis has seriously shaken already weak African economies, and at the same time the most vulnerable social actors, including women and young people. The Malian parliamentarian wished to specify that in view of these numerous challenges of economic and social development in Africa, a source of potential conflicts in the absence of appropriate measures including the social and solidarity economy, this third RAESS meeting is an opportunity to better carry Africa's voice in the context of the 2015 MDGs. It should be noted that this third edition is part of a logical sequence of three major international events of civil society acting in the field of social and solidarity economy: the RIPESS meeting in Manila in 2013, the Mont-Blanc Meetings in Chamonix in 2012, and the initiative for a Europe-Africa civil society platform of the European Union's Economic and Social Committee. The Marrakech Meeting, in which a Philippine delegation took part as a guest of honour, constituted a moment of consultation between actors from the African continent and concerned international organisations. It allowed participants to draw up a continental associative roadmap in favour of inclusive and democratic development. Everyone agreed during this edition that the future of Africa depends largely on the social and solidarity economy. The quality of the debates demonstrated that the African continent is full of human potential capable of meeting the challenges of multidimensional development. A tribute must be paid to the organisers of the third RAESS Meeting who spared no effort to bring together all the conditions necessary for the success of this continental gathering.

A space for consultation and exchange. The participants renewed the collective commitment of the RAESS members at the end of the third Meeting of African Networks for Social and Solidarity Economy. The signatory members of the RAESS committed themselves to developing and promoting alternatives for economic and social integration in favour of human dignity and decent work for all Africans. They also consider the RAESS as a space for consultation, exchange, and pooling of knowledge and know-how in terms of sustainable development. It is, furthermore, a framework for advocacy with governments and relevant continental and international bodies to defend the universal principles and values of the social and solidarity economy.