Activity report 2021
Solidarity in action
As a result of the pandemic, 2021 saw the Secours populaire rallying people who wanted to get out and do something to counter the anxiety-ridden climate that prevailed with a downturn in the economy and young people’s prospects looking bleak. As well as successful public collections, we also secured government funding to purchase a fleet of Solidaribuses and partial funding to recruit digital advisers. We witnessed the growing distress caused as local public services were axed in the shift towards online-only solutions as some populations were made to feel left behind. We focused our efforts during the holidays on helping children, young people, and the isolated, offering them the chance to enjoy a break and have fun together. We spoke to our partners around the world to prioritise the most urgent causes and took advantage of our Secours populaire National Congress to review our current programmes and their effectiveness. A clear need for global solidarity prompted us to accelerate the important growth of our “Copain du Monde” children’s movement. We decided to add another string to our bow of solidarity by looking at ways we can provide young people with training and skills acquisition opportunities, initially in the farming sector then more widely, to facilitate their access to the job market. We have opened doors and windows in our efforts to create a fairer and more united world where every individual is respected, and we are determined never to give up.
Despite the worldwide pandemic and the havoc it has caused, our organisation doubled down in 2021 to rethink our fundraising and solidarity initiatives and focused on how to overcome poverty and instability. Everybody pulled together to help spread solidarity wherever it was needed: our Solidaribuses, 1,300 solidarity centres, 87,000 volunteer organisers and collectors, 131 partners on all continents, the Secours populaire doctors and our “Copain du Monde” children. All our initiatives were brought together at the Secours populaire National Congress, held in Lyon in November 2021. The congress was the culmination of extensive planning and organising by the federations at general meetings and regional conferences, and gave us the opportunity to sit down, review and discuss our work, make plans, and elect new leadership teams. The Secours populaire counts almost 10,000 elected collectors who have taken on duties at national, departmental or local level – the very definition of engagement and citizenship. Decisions made at the National Congress on the theme of “Let’s create sustainable and worldwide solidarity for all” included: to provide emergency funds to deal with the consequences of climate issues; increase empowerment and emancipation initiatives; take action with and for the rural and agricultural sector; encourage and support initiative-taking; and invite all our collectors to act as local representatives for the Secours populaire, wherever they are.