Solidarité Laïque

Solidarité Laïque is a French non-profit association (association loi de 1901) recognised as being of public utility (reconnue d'utilité publique). It operates as a collective of 51 organisations linked to public schooling, popular education and the social and solidarity economy. Its mission is to facilitate access to fundamental rights, in particular the right to education, both in France and internationally. The organisation traces its origins to 1956, when several public-education organisations — including the Fédération de l'Éducation nationale (FEN), the Syndicat national des instituteurs (SNI), the Entraide ouvrière française, the Fédération unie des auberges de jeunesse, the Entraide universitaire and the Mutuelle générale de l'Éducation nationale (MGEN) — created the Comité d'aide aux réfugiés hongrois to welcome victims of the events in Budapest. In 1958 it became the Comité national de solidarité with 13 member organisations, and in April 1960, after the Fréjus disaster, it was reconstituted as the Comité national de la solidarité des œuvres complémentaires de l'enseignement public. In 1981 it became the Comité national de solidarité laïque, and it was recognised as being of public utility on 23 August 1990. In 1994 it merged with the CLED (Comité laïque pour l'éducation au développement), creating an internal development-education sector. Solidarité Laïque runs programmes in France and in more than 20 countries. Internationally, it has been active in emergency and reconstruction contexts, including Sri Lanka after the 2005 tsunami, where it helped rebuild schools alongside Education International, built a cultural centre and a nursery school in the Istouti village project of Sri Lanka Solidarity, launched the trilingual children's magazine "Yuti", and trained nursery teachers in Hambantota district. In partnership with the Ligue de l'enseignement, it leads the international solidarity campaign "Pas d'éducation, pas d'avenir" (No education, no future). It is a member of the francophone network against the commodification of education and heads the Coalition Éducation. In France, Solidarité Laïque is engaged in defending a secularism (laïcité) that resists being diverted into identity-based racism, and it organises the Rendez-vous de la laïcité. In November 2018, together with other organisations, it warned against any modification of the 1905 law on the separation of Churches and the State. During the 2017 French presidential election run-off, it implicitly called, in a tribune signed with sixty other associations, to block the FN candidate. Its current communications highlight emergency education responses (for example after the earthquake in Colombia), continued work in Haiti despite instability, the global figure of 273 million out-of-school children and youth, and the annual "Rentrée Solidaire" back-to-school solidarity campaign, which in a recent edition focused on Senegal.

Solidarité Laïque's history begins in 1956, when several organisations of French public education — including the Fédération de l'Éducation nationale (FEN), the Syndicat national des instituteurs (SNI), the Entraide ouvrière française, the Fédération unie des auberges de jeunesse, the Entraide universitaire and the Mutuelle générale de l'Éducation nationale (MGEN) — created the Comité d'aide aux réfugiés hongrois to welcome victims of the events in Budapest. In 1958, as its activities grew, this committee became the Comité national de solidarité, with 13 member organisations. In April 1960, after the Fréjus disaster, the Comité national de la solidarité des œuvres complémentaires de l'enseignement public was established. It intervened in favour of victims of floods in central France, victims of the OAS (1962), and those affected by the Guadeloupe disaster (1966), among others, thanks to collections made among its members. In 1981, the committee was transformed into the Comité national de solidarité laïque, a humanitarian organisation recognised as being of public utility on 23 August 1990. In 1994, Solidarité laïque merged with the CLED (Comité laïque pour l'éducation au développement), and from that date created an internal development-education sector. Committed from 2005 in Sri Lanka after the tsunami, Solidarité Laïque participated, alongside Education International, in rebuilding schools. Within the post-tsunami construction project of the Istouti village run by the organisation Sri Lanka Solidarity, Solidarité Laïque built a cultural centre and a nursery school. It also launched the publication of "Yuti", a trilingual magazine for the island's children, and organised training for all nursery teachers in Hambantota district, in the south of the island. The work continued across the country to facilitate the opening of nursery schools and the training of teachers. The Sri Lankan state committed to a policy for early childhood and asked Solidarité Laïque to continue the work carried out in the Eastern province in other provinces. Today, the State Secretariat for Early Childhood, which was attached to the Ministry of the Family, has become a deputy ministry attached to the Ministry of Education. In the run-off of the 2017 presidential election between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, Solidarité laïque implicitly called, in a tribune with sixty other associations, to block the FN candidate. In November 2018, Solidarité laïque and other organisations warned against any modification of the law of 9 December 1905 on the separation of Churches and the State. Solidarité laïque fights against the diversion of laïcité into identity-based racism and gives a voice to actors in its Rendez-vous de la laïcité. Today, Solidarité Laïque is a collective of 51 organisations linked to public schooling, popular education and the social and solidarity economy. It mobilises for access for all to quality education, in France and in more than 20 countries. In partnership with the Ligue de l'enseignement, it leads the international solidarity campaign "Pas d'éducation, pas d'avenir." It is a member of the francophone network against the commodification of education and heads the Coalition Éducation. Its recent communications highlight emergency education responses (for example after the earthquake in Colombia), continued work in Haiti despite instability, the global figure of 273 million out-of-school children and youth, and the annual "Rentrée Solidaire" campaign, which in a recent edition focused on Senegal.

• 2018

  In November, warns with other organisations against any modification of the 1905 law on the separation of Churches and the State.

• 2017

  In the presidential election run-off, implicitly calls with sixty other associations to block the FN candidate.

• 2005

  Engagement in Sri Lanka after the tsunami, participating in school reconstruction alongside Education International.

• 1994

  Merger with the CLED (Comité laïque pour l'éducation au développement) and creation of an internal development-education sector.

• 1990

  Recognised as being of public utility on 23 August.

• 1981

  Transformation into the Comité national de solidarité laïque.

• 1960

  After the Fréjus disaster, the Comité national de la solidarité des œuvres complémentaires de l'enseignement public is established.

• 1958

  The committee becomes the Comité national de solidarité with 13 member organisations.

• 1956

  Creation of the Comité d'aide aux réfugiés hongrois by several public-education organisations.

A French public-utility NGO and collective of 51 organisations promoting access to quality education and fundamental rights in France and more than 20 countries, with a strong secularist (laïque) identity.

• Pas d'éducation, pas d'avenir campaign

  International solidarity campaign led in partnership with the Ligue de l'enseignement.

• Rentrée Solidaire

  Annual back-to-school solidarity campaign; a recent edition focused on Senegal.

• Rendez-vous de la laïcité

  Events giving a voice to actors in the defence of laïcité.

• Coalition Éducation

  Solidarité Laïque is the head of this coalition.

1. 1Solidarité Laïque official websitesolidarite-laique.org
2. 2Solidarité Laïque on Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Solidarité laïque on French Wikipediafr.wikipedia.org