In 1901, the Third Republic established the freedom of association.
Article 1 of the law defines association as: "the agreement by which one or more persons permanently pool their knowledge or activities for a purpose other than sharing profits..."
Freedom of association gives all citizens the freedom to join together to contribute to the betterment of society: to protect an endangered natural environment, to assist disadvantaged populations, to demonstrate international solidarity, to develop educational programs, to create cultural products. This is one of the foundations of democracy. Indeed, associations are free to organize themselves. They have no obligation to be declared.
Today, in France, the associative movement has taken a considerable place in society: 1.3 million associations are active in our country. Each year 70,000 new associations are created, compared to only 20,000 in the 1970s. 23 million people over the age of 14 are members of an association. Associations employ a total of 1.3 million employees, 920,000 in the health and social sector, 60,000 in the cultural sector, 81,000 in the sports sector. 70% of jobs in associations are held by women.
Every day, associations provide proof of the effectiveness of cooperative approaches. It is therefore natural that APAC should be interested in them. We are currently working on a series of publications for "Strengthening the associative dynamic" whose main author is Roland Daval, a well-known expert in the associative world. The aim of the series is to help association leaders mobilize their members on a development strategy. The first volume of the series is entitled "Taking a look at the association and its environment". It is already available on the website. To access it, click here. The following volumes will be published in the coming weeks. The second volume deals with the elaboration of an associative project and a vision for the future and the third volume with the elaboration of a multi-year action plan.
Roland is preparing a series of seminars on the same themes.
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