Policy Brief 41, July 2017

Quantification of South-South cooperation and its implications to the foreign policy of developing countries

As South-South cooperation widens its scope, there is an increasing debate on how to measure its flows and results. When the SDG 17 is considered in particular, there is a perception that South-South cooperation ought to assume the role of an additional source of development finance, even though several of its modalities are not financial in nature. In this sense, current initiatives aimed at establishing the monetization of all development cooperation modalities pose a challenge to South-South cooperation practitioners, as such a hypothetical global standard would not give full account of the innovative processes taking place through South-South cooperation.

If measured only in monetary terms, most of South-South cooperation would become statistically irrelevant, with negative implications to the foreign policy of developing countries.  In this sense, the measurement of development cooperation – particularly South-South cooperation – goes beyond the field of public statistics to incorporate a political dimension.

This Policy Brief calls the attention of developing countries on the political implications of development cooperation metrics. It makes the case for an innovative model for measuring South-South cooperation, which should be formulated by developing countries based on their own parameters and through an effective political coordination.

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Quantification of South-South cooperation