A historic milestone recognising the essential role of social organisations in guaranteeing rights and supporting people
Today, the Parliament of Catalonia approved the first-ever Third Social Sector Law, a historic demand from Catalonia’s social organisations and a major step forward in recognising their contribution to society.
For the first time, the new Law formally recognises the essential role of social organisations in guaranteeing rights, providing care and support, and accompanying people, especially those in vulnerable situations or at risk of social exclusion.
The approval comes after years of collective work and advocacy led by the Taula d’Entitats del Tercer Sector Social de Catalunya and the La Confederació Empresarial del Tercer Sector Social de Catalunya. With this new legal framework, Catalonia joins other regions in Spain that already had specific legislation recognising the social third sector.
In Catalonia, more than 3,000 non-profit social organisations work every day alongside people, supported by over 120,000 professionals and thousands of volunteers. This network supports more than 2 million people experiencing or at risk of social exclusion, one in every four people in the country.
The new legislation strengthens the sector’s institutional recognition and opens the door to a more stable, coordinated and balanced relationship with public administrations. It also promotes greater participation of social organisations in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies.
The Law also highlights the need to move towards a fairer, more stable and sustainable funding model, ensuring the continuity of projects, the quality of care and better conditions for professional teams.
At Suara Cooperativa, we welcome this approval as a collective recognition of all the people, organisations and professionals who work every day to guarantee rights, create opportunities and build a fairer and more inclusive society.
This Law is a starting point. The next challenge is to ensure its implementation leads to greater stability, stronger organisations and better guarantees for people.
We now have a Law. Now, let’s move forward.
