The Paris 2024 Social Charter represents a strong commitment to promoting long-term social, economic, and environmental objectives. The charter promotes local businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and actors in the social and solidarity economy (SSE), as well as employment opportunities for hard-to-reach groups, including young people from priority neighbourhoods, people with disabilities, individuals in long-term unemployment, and senior citizens. The charter has been signed by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, the Olympic Works Delivery Company (SOLIDEO), trade unions, and employer organisations.
Objectives
The Paris 2024 Social Charter aims to foster inclusive employment and business opportunities. It encompasses 16 commitments focused on fostering decent working conditions, enhancing occupational integration of vulnerable groups, and ensuring equitable access to project contracts for local businesses, SMEs, and SSE entities. The charter extends beyond the Games, contributing to long-term sustainable and inclusive economic development. By establishing a robust framework for social responsibility, Paris 2024 aims to set a precedent for future international events.
Implementation
Signed in 2019, the Social Charter has shaped Paris 2024’s approach to procurement, employment, volunteering, and contracting. The Social Charter Monitoring Committee meets biannually to oversee its application. The charter's content revolves around three themes: promoting SMEs and SSE entities, promoting employment opportunities for hard-to-reach groups, and ensuring decent working conditions free from discrimination.
The charter supports businesses and organisations that have historically struggled to access large government tenders. It promotes access to Games-related tenders for a variety of enterprises, notably very small SMEs and SSE entities, setting a target of 25% of total contract value to go to these businesses. To achieve this, Paris 2024 partnered with local actors, the Yunus Centre, and Les Canaux to provide the SSE 2024 Programme, which identified over 6,000 SSE entities and matched their capabilities to the needs of the Games. This programme offers these organisations detailed information on economic opportunities, training, technical assistance, and networking to facilitate collaborative responses to tenders.
In collaboration with SOLIDEO and MEDEF (the largest employer federation in France), Paris 2024 launched Entreprises 2024, an online platform that informs and advises companies wishing to bid on Games-related contracts. Over 70 business events across France presented Paris 2024’s calls for tenders with Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI), Chambers of Trades and Crafts (CMA), Regional Economic and Social Committees (CRESS), local authorities, and business clubs.
Supporting hard-to-reach groups
Supporting hard-to-reach groups into sustained employment is a primary goal of the Social Charter. Paris 2024 worked closely with local authorities, trade unions, and employer organisations to promote employment opportunities for those facing long-term unemployment or those with disabilities. The charter commits to reserving 10% of working hours on Games-related contracts for those struggling to enter the labour market. This is implemented through social integration clauses with suppliers, aimed at developing qualifying pathways towards long-term employment. This initiative is supported by national and local skills development programmes, such as the City of Paris’ EnJeux Emplois action plan a EUR 4 million initiative to implement actions for remobilisation, support, and training towards Games-related jobs, particularly in event management, security, construction, and sports.
Decent working conditions
The charter also commits to decent working conditions and combating discrimination. Signatories are committed to upholding fair working conditions, actively combating illegal labour, anti-competitive practices, and discrimination. This includes promoting compliance with international labour standards for subcontractors and suppliers and encouraging diversity in Games-related roles.
Impact
The initiatives launched to meet the Social Charter’s commitments have provided new opportunities to thousands of SMEs, SSE entities, and people far from the labour market. Almost 20,000 SMEs and SSE entities have registered on the Entreprises 2024 platform, and over 6,000 SSE entities have benefited from the SSE 2024 Programme’s services. 78% of Paris 2024 suppliers are SMEs and SSE entities, surpassing the original target of 25% of contracts awarded to these companies, with 37% of committed amounts billed to these companies. The Entreprises 2024 platform is intended to continue beyond the Paris 2024 Games to publicise calls for tenders related to future major sporting events in France.
Regarding jobs, over 11% of contracted hours for SOLIDEO had been taken up by those in professional integration programmes as of March 2024. At the city level, over 4,000 Parisians have benefited from personalised employment pathways, with over 80% securing a job or continuing education.
Lessons for other communities
Integrating social commitments into public contracts can boost local businesses, support social enterprises, and help hard-to-reach groups integrate into the labour market. Offering support for SMEs and social economy actors to collaborate in responding to public tenders can help overcome the capacity barrier many SMEs face in participating in public projects. Combining contractual requirements to employ a proportion of staff from hard-to-reach groups with training and upskilling programmes promotes a demand-and-supply-side approach, leading to more long-term employment gains.
The Paris 2024 Social Charter is aligned with the UN Global Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. By promoting inclusive employment, supporting SMEs and SSE entities, and ensuring fair working conditions, the charter contributes to sustainable economic growth and decent work for all. The initiative exemplifies how major events can be leveraged to create lasting social and economic benefits, setting a model for future international events to follow.
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