- When: 11 September 2020, 8:00 New York, 14:00 Paris, 21:00 Tokyo
- To join this webinar, please click here.
Strengthening Partnership and International Solidarity through Triangular Cooperation:
One year after BAPA+40 and during the COVID-19 times
Background
To highlight the importance of South-South cooperation and solidarity among the countries of the South for the achievement of their development goals, the General Assembly in its resolution 58/220 decide to observe the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation on 12 September every year, commemorating the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC) in 1978. This year, the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation will be celebrated ahead of the 75th anniversary of the General Assembly with the theme of “South-South and triangular cooperation as expressions of international solidarity to face the global development challenges”.
The Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, also known as BAPA+40, was held in Buenos Aires in March 2019 to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing TCDC (A/RES/33/134). The BAPA+40 was also an opportunity to renew commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other internationally agreed goals through the modalities of South-South and triangular cooperation. The representatives of 145 Member States and the European Union, including 8 Heads of State, 2 Vice Prime Ministers, and 61 Ministers, attended the BAPA+40, and the BAPA+40 outcome document (A/73/291) was adopted.
In the BAPA+40 outcome document, the increasing importance of triangular cooperation is highlighted. Triangular cooperation is introduced as an inclusive and diverse modality “that builds partnerships and trust, between all partners, and that combines diverse resources and capacities, under the ownership of the requesting developing country, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”. It offers an adaptable and flexible approach to evolving development challenges, builds on the complementary strengths of different actors to find innovative and cost-effective, flexible context-specific solutions to development challenges, and can arise from a combination of South-South and North-South cooperation, creating partnerships around the pursuit of shared development goals. The efforts of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, including the Global Partnership Initiative (GPI) on Effective Triangular Cooperation, has been recognized as well.
The GPI on Effective Triangular Cooperation was launched in Nairobi in 2016, bringing together various development stakeholders to promote triangular cooperation and facilitating exchange and joint learning among all stakeholders. Currently, GPI members come from more than 60 countries, international organisations, civil society organisations, the private sector, and research institutions. The core group has nine members: African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Canada, Chile, Ibero-American Program for the Strengthening of South-South Co-operation (PIFCSS), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Japan, Mexico, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).
Currently, the world is facing big challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic is causing not only health but also social, economic challenges among others and risk reversing the SDGs gains in many developing countries. To respond the challenges, the international community needs more than ever solidarity and experience sharing. Triangular cooperation can play this important role while serving as a bridge between the countries of the South and the North.
The objective of this seminar is to mutually learn and exchange views on the challenges, experience and opportunities of triangular partnerships for sustainable development, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will also serve as an occasion to reflect on the way forward for the implementation of the recommendations of the BAPA+40 outcome document on triangular cooperation through the involvement of all stakeholders including Member States, the United Nations entities, regional organizations, international financial institutions, civil society organizations, private sectors among others.
