The new government of Pedro Sánchez has re-established the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, with Yolanda Díaz, who also holds the position of the Second Vice President of the Spanish Government, still in charge. The new Ministry has also created a specific State Secretariat for Social Economy, headed by Amparo Merino Segovia, a professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Cuenca (University of Castilla-La Mancha – UCLM), of which she was Dean until 2001.
Amparo Merino is a professor of Labor Law and Social Security at UCLM. “Merino has developed a significant teaching and outreach activities related to the world of Labor Law, particularly Collective Bargaining, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Equality,” explained sources from the ministry she will now be part of.
In addition, the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, one of the first European ministries to include the term ‘social economy’ in its name, will have four general directorates (the third level of the ministry). These are a Directorate General for Labour, a Directorate General for the Social Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility, another for Self-Employment and a fourth for New Forms of Employment. These are two more general directorates than in the previous structure, which only had two: one for Labor and a global one that grouped Self-Employment, Social Economy, and CSR.
Aicha Belassir Khayati (Tunisia, 1980) has been chosen to lead the new General Directorate of Social Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility. Belassir holds a degree in Foreign Languages and Cultures from the University of Turin (Italy), and throughout her professional career, she has held positions such as the Executive Secretary of the Intercontinental network for the promotion of social solidarity economy (RIPESS) and in Spain, the Technical Directorate of the Federation of Associations of Integration Enterprises (FAEDEI).
She was also Vice President of the European Network of Social Integration Enterprises (ENSIE). She is part of the Working Group of Women Leaders in the Social Economy in Spain and the Top 100 Global Women Leaders in Social Enterprise 2023.
Víctor Meseguer continues in this legislature as Special Commissioner for Social Economy.
