Developing National Ecosystems for South-South and Triangular Cooperation to Achieve Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development
To maximize the benefits of South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTrC), it would be imperative to have an effective “national ecosystem” – an institutional framework at national level. Over the years, the pace of institutional improvements in conducting SSTrC by Southern countries has lagged far behind the fast expansion of SSTrC in size, making it a constraint for unleashing the full potential of SSTrC. On 26 September 2019, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the South Centre and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) launched the joint publication entitled “Developing National Ecosystems for South-South and Triangular Cooperation to Achieve Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development” on the side lines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. It discusses how to strengthen national ecosystems to promote SSTrC. The concept of national ecosystem advocates a bottom-up and incremental approach. It emphasizes that the national ecosystem is not meant to be prescriptive or a one size fits all model. Developing an effective national ecosystem for SSTrC requires understanding of the national realities and objectives and takes time, effort, commitments and financing.
La coopération Sud-Sud en Afrique du Sud 40 ans après le BAPA
Par Neissan Alessandro Besharati
Alors que les États membres et les Nations Unies (NU) se préparent pour la deuxième Conférence de haut niveau sur la coopération Sud-Sud (CSS) quarante ans après l’adoption du Plan d’Action de Buenos Aires (PABA), cet article reflète le parcours de l’Afrique du Sud dans la mise en oeuvre de la coopération technique avec les pays en développement (CTPD). Bien que le gouvernement d’apartheid de Pretoria ait été exclu des discussions à Buenos Aires, l’Afrique du Sud a joué un rôle important au sein de la CSS, au cours des deux dernières décennies, en promouvant le renforcement des capacités, l’échange d’expériences et la CTPD en Afrique et au niveau intrarégional. L’article examinera le degré de conformité des 38 recommandations établies dans le PABA par l’Afrique du Sud et le travail de suivi qui reste nécessaire, aux niveaux national et mondial, pour faire avancer le programme de la CSS.
Key Issues for BAPA+40: South-South Cooperation and the BAPA+40 Subthemes
Developing countries today face multiple interlinked macroeconomic, financial, climate, and development challenges. South-South cooperation is an important element for developing countries to meet these challenges individually and collectively, and in multilateral North-South dialogue and global governance. The overall theme of the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (40 years after the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promotion and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries/BAPA+40) is the “Role of South-South cooperation and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: challenges and opportunities”, with sub-themes. This research paper will present some concepts relating to South-South cooperation that have been developed by the South and the United Nations system, and looks at some issues that would be relevant to discussions that may be undertaken with respect to Subthemes (i) “Comparative advantages and opportunities of South-South cooperation”; (ii) “Challenges and the strengthening of the institutional framework of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation”; and (iv) “Scaling up the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in support of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation”. It concludes by providing recommendations for the consideration of developing countries in response to the various subthemes, as inputs to support the active engagement by developing countries in the negotiations for the BAPA+40 outcome document.
Assessment of South-South Cooperation and the Global Narrative on the Eve of BAPA+40
This research paper gives a brief account of the fast expansion of South-South cooperation (SSC) in volume, modalities and participating countries and institutions. Though SSC is a de facto development compact, there is a tendency to overstate the total concessional financial element of SSC compared to Official Development Assistance (ODA), as SSC constitutes only a small portion of the total ODA from traditional donors. North-South cooperation (NSC) is still the dominant pillar of development finance; hence SSC needs to be regarded as a complement to and not a substitute for NSC. (more…)
Statement by His Excellency Thabo Mbeki on the occasion of the meeting of the Board of the South Centre
Below is the statement of His Excellency Thabo Mbeki, former President of the Republic of South Africa, and new Chair of the Board of the South Centre, upon conclusion of the 41st meeting of the Board of the South Centre, held on 11 October 2018 at the South Centre in Geneva.
