Glossary

CDFI Fund (Community Development Financial Institutions Fund) : the Fund awards capital through loans to CDFIs and financial agencies, such as credit unions, community development banks, risk capital funds, funds for micro-enterprises... The CDFIs take on the role of banks in destitute districts, helping to fund affordable housing, and business set-ups and developments in these areas.

Co-operative: co-operatives form part of what is called the "third sector", where the aim is not to seek to maximise profits. They aspire to promote the general interest of all stakeholders. Enjoying the status of a legal entity, a co-operative belongs to its members and is run and controlled by them. Decisions are taken on the basis of the principle of one person, one vote. Co-operatives operate in the farming, banking and insurance sectors.

Social lending: social lending may be defined as a process for vetting, awarding and following up a request for consumer credit. The process is not based solely on the business and/or profitability considerations of the lender but also on the social circumstances of the borrower. Social lending is not a new development, as it dates back to the 19th century but it has become more topical owing to changes in the consumer credit market in recent years. As a result of new market trends and the need to ensure profitability, "small" loans (involving less than Euro 2,500) tend to come in the form of credit facilities rather than other forms, such as instalment sales and instalment loans. Credit facilities are the least suited to low-income households, because a) they are the most expensive and b) they do not involve the creation of a pre-established repayment plan. As one example, the system on offer from the Walloon Region’s Observatoire du Crédit et de l’Endettement (Credit and Debt Observatory) seeks to achieve four key aims: deter people from overborrowing, establish consumption and credit in the context of a life project, create the social conditions for allowing access to credit (vetting the repayment schedule, factoring in the family budget’s real situation, reducing costs), iron out inequalities and offer opportunities for social prosperity.

Sustainable development: "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" - this is the definition the UN Commission on the Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) announced in 1987.

Discrimination : forming part of Belgian legislation, the Law of 25 February 2003 makes a distinction between direct and indirect discrimination: "Direct discrimination" refers to a different form of treatment for which there is no objective and reasonable justification, and is based directly on gender, the alleged race of an individual, colour, descent, nationality or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, marital status, birth, wealth, age, religious or philosophical convictions, current or future state of health, a disability or a physical trait. Indirect discrimination refers to an apparently neutral measure, criterion or policy that, as it stands, has a damaging effect for individuals to whom one of the reasons for direct discrimination applies, unless the measure, criterion or policy is based on an objective and reasonable justification".

Fundamental rights: these are defined in the European Union by the Charter of fundamental rights, which was signed and announced by the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission during the EU Summit in Nice, on 7 December 2000. They are grouped together in six chapters : dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity, citizenship and justice. The full text is available at the following address : http://www.europarl.eu.int/charter/pdf/text_fr.pdf Social economy: the concept of a social economy, or even a social and solidarity-based economy (by including integration on the basis of economic activity) does involve economic activity to some extent but it does not abide by the standard rules of the capitalist economy, where the primary aim is to make a profit. Nor does it rely on the public sector, whose activities seek to cater for the general interest. Consequently, we refer to a third sector, a definition of which was provided during the second international meeting on the globalisation of solidarity (Québec, October 2001): "The social and solidarity-based economy refers to a set of economic initiatives with a social goal, helping to build up a new way of experiencing and thinking about the economy in the light of tens of thousands of projects in countries in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Under this system the human being is central to economic and social development. Economic solidarity is driven by an economic, political and social project leading to a new way of engaging in politics and forging human relationships based on consensus and citizenship."

The European Union’s EQUAL programme is designed to "combat discrimination and reduce inequalities through better social cohesion". Coming within the scope of the European Social Fund, and covering the 2000 - 2008 period, this Community initiative aims to give a boost and lend support to innovative projects so as to help solve specific discrimination problems that have been highlighted. For example an initial call for projects in France, in 2001, enabled 230 projects to be co-funded to the tune of Euro 150 million.

Social exclusion: emerging in the post-industrial societies, this concept refers to individuals or groups being sidelined by those representing the dominant model in a society. This exclusion applies in particular to employment (many people who are out of work feel shunned) but it also affects other areas, such as the family, housing and education. People lacking social acknowledgement are prone to identity crises.

Ethics and solidarity-based finance: a concept that means no longer dealing with financial resources and their many dimensions (savings, investments, credit, account management,... ) solely from the viewpoint of the economic rate of return but also in the light of ethical and solidarity-based considerations.

Alternative financiers: these are financial backers who take account of ethical and/or solidarity-based criteria when making investment decisions. They guarantee their customers that their savings will not be used to pay for controversial weapons, environmentally-unfriendly industries, or they will be invested in projects offering social value-adding opportunities. Examples are Crédal and Hefboom in Belgium, La Nef in France and the Triodos bank in the Netherlands.

Foundation : pursuant to the French law of 23 July 1987, a foundation is an "operation where one or more natural or legal persons agree to the irreversible assignment of property, rights or resources for the completion of an undertaking with a general interest and non-profit-making goal". A distinction is made between public utility foundations and corporate foundations, which are particularly involved in sponsorship activities.

The European Social Fund is one of the four European Union Structural Funds, along with the EAGGF (European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund), the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) and the FIFG (Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance), whose joint mission is to narrow the gaps between the living standards of the European Union citizens and regions. All the Member States qualify for this instrument Set up in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome, the ESF has become the key financial instrument for promoting European employment policy. It is in keeping with the European commitment to create more jobs so as to drive down the level of unemployment and to achieve a better trained workforce that can live up to the expectations of the labour market.

Grameen Bank: Muhammad Yunus created the micro-credit concept. Back in 1974, when he taught economics at the University of Chittagong, in Bangladesh, the country was gripped by a terrible famine, claiming 1.5 million lives. In the wake of the tragedy, the professor began to investigate the question of poverty and as part of his research paid a visit to the nearby village of Jobra. There he met women who were caught in a terrible poverty trap. Unable to borrow from banks, because they were regarded as insolvent, they turned to money lenders so as to be able to buy a few goods in the morning to sell during the day. However, they ended up having to hand over almost everything they earned during the day to the money lenders so as to pay off their debts. Mohammad Yunus then had the idea of lending Thaka 850 (about Euro 24 ) to 42 women in Jobra. The operation turned out to be a success. Unable to persuade the banks to follow his example, he decided to create his own system, the Grameen Bank, which offered interest rates that were more favourable than those available from the conventional banks. The achievements are awe-inspiring: the bank has lent over Euro 4 billion to 11 million clients, 90% of which are women. The concept caught on outside the country and is now applied in 45 countries throughout the world, affecting 60 million people, 27 million of which are the most destitute.

Financial institutions: these take the form of credit establishments, asset managers and financial intermediaries. INTEGRAR is a European Union programme for the integration of the most vulnerable people. Enjoying the support of the Structural Funds, it focuses on health, training and resocialisation. The initiatives include measures to facilitate the social development and the economic and social inclusion of the long-term unemployed and the disabled. The support is provided in the form of financial aid allocated to local, regional and national agencies that are often non-governmental organisations.

Micro-credit : is a loan granted to set up or develop tiny companies. The resources are awarded to people who do not qualify for the banking system, as they cannot offer real guarantees or make a large enough personal contribution. Backed up with firm guidance for those setting up the businesses, the loan is awarded against the background of a sustainable economic and financial approach. The micro-credit system primarily emerged in developing countries but given recent trends on the market for credit to finance production in developed countries, the system might turn out to be valuable or even vital in the more prosperous countries as well. Developments affecting commercial loans for producers have produced a situation where the banking sector does not have the expertise required to launch an intelligence-gathering system and deploy risk analysis criteria tailored to micro-enterprises.

Micro-finance : this covers financial services (loans, savings, insurance,...) for people barred from the time-honoured system because they cannot offer bank guarantees.

Civil society organisations : these involve both sides of business and other organisations representing the social and economic sectors, NGOs, grassroots organisations and religious communities.

Public/Private partnership (PPP) : contracts making use of private finance for public service operations.

Insecurity: "Insecurity or social exclusion is defined as a multidimensional process taking shape in both the professional and relational spheres. It may also turn up in other social areas, such as housing and the availability of health care. Individuals who are extremely socially vulnerable are the ones most affected by this insecurity: children, early school-leavers, young people without qualifications, the long-term unemployed, low wage earners, young people with unstable jobs, single, low-income mothers and so on. However, looking beyond these situations, the insecurity also involves a number of people who are actually threatened, or feel threatened by the transformation of a society, where the rules have changed drastically. When their job insecurity is exacerbated by other disadvantages, they risk sliding into a situation where they become utterly poverty-stricken and completely sidelined, which would seriously undermine their opportunities for rejoining the main social networks" Public Health Committee. La Progression de la précarité en France et ses effets sur la santé (Insecurity in France and its health implications). ENSP 1987, p. 11-27.

Public authorities : these are states and regional and local authorities, with each level of governance providing opportunities for policies and instruments related to its individual powers.

Corporate Social Responsibility : a concept meaning companies take the initiative themselves to reflect social and environmental concerns within their activities and in their relationships with the various corporate stakeholders.

Universal Banking Service: this refers to all the banking services linked to a current account. Access is guaranteed for all citizens (opportunity to open, manage and close a current account, deposit sums, make withdrawals at the counter and by electronic means, make transfers manually and electronically, and make standing orders and have bills paid by banker’s order plus receive account statements).