Réseau-Solidarité is a gathering of citizens determined to use their powers of speech to help build a world of freedom and solidarity.

Réseau-Solidarité rallies public opinion in the Northern countries to support the men and women of the Southern countries in their struggle for economic and social justice.

In coherence with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all the international laws, which contribute to assert the universal right of people, the action carried out by Réseau-Solidarité is based on three convictions :

• Human dignity is unalienable ;
• "it is essential to protect human rights by law" [1] ;
• " the ideal of a human being, free from fear and misery, may only be achieved when the conditions are gathered to allow everyone to enjoy his economic and social rights " [2].

Réseau-Solidarité conceives its action as a service available to the groups of the Southern countries, which are committed in a struggle for their rights.

This action is made in response to the needs which are expressed by these groups and is not an unilateral initiative of the Northern countries. It is materialised by opinion campaigns.

At this point, three elements are decisive :

• the origin : the call comes from third world organisations
• the object : it concerns economic and social rights
• the mode: the people involved, call for the mobilisation of the international public opinion

Réseau-Solidarité gathers in Europe :

• men and women committed to exercise their citizen’s responsibilities in taking part in opinion campaigns, a number of which is a major force of pressure ;

• organisations which accept to collaborate with Réseau-Solidarité according to one or to the other of the following mode :

• to transmit demands of intervention issued by their third world partners ;
• to act as consultant, in other words, to take part in the study of some reports, according to their specific competence ;
• to promote Réseau-Solidarité by encouraging their members to participate in these actions. resource-persons who accept to be consulted by Réseau-Solidarité on the casefiles coming under their competence.

Réseau-Solidarité bases its action on a vast international network to relay the calls coming from the various organisations : NGOs [3], trade unions, associations, groups, communities..., which coordinate the efforts made by the people of third world countries for the defence of their rights.

In France, Réseau-Solidarité is animated by Peuples Solidaires [4] with the help of some other French NGOs but gathers a much broader audience than the strict number of militants of these associations. In Europe, Réseau-Solidarité has an office in Belgium, gathers together militants in various countries and works in close cooperation with NGOs.

An executive team, assisted by a secretariat, coordinates the action of Réseau-Solidarité, decides on interventions and determines their modes. An orientation committee meets once or twice a year to assess the work of the executive team, to think in the long term and to dynamise the links between all the French NGOs. Every two years, a Forum gathers the members of the Réseau for a time dedicated to training, talks and proposals.

One call doesn’t follow the other with the same regularity : we act in response to the needs of third world groups wich ask for our help ; our calls are therefore impossible to anticipate or to plan. We therefore advise everyone to always have some air-mail envelopes and some stamps at his/her disposal.

[1] Universal Declaration of Human Rights (preamble) (return)
[2] International Agreement on economic and social rights (preamble) (return)
[3] NGO = Non-Governmental Organisations;generally referring to the organisations for development and international solidarity (return)
[4] Federation of local groups and members willing to create a dynamism in favour of an interdependent development of all people, especially through direct relations with Third World organisations (return)

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