High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation, 21st Session

General Assembly High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation, 21st Session

Date: 19-22 May 2014
Location: United Nations, Conference Room 3 (CB), New York, NY

The 21st session of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation was convened 30 May to 2 June 2023 to review progress made in implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, the New Directions Strategy for South-South cooperation, the Nairobi outcome document of the High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation and the Buenos Aires outcome document of the second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA+40).

The Thematic Discussion of the 21st session, decided by the Bureau of the High-level Committee, focused on “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through South-South and triangular cooperation”. Click here to read the Concept Note of the Thematic Discussion.

Other themes that emerged during the High-level Committee included advancing South-South and triangular cooperation for: Digitalization Transformation; Collaboration to address Climate Change; and Supporting Resilience and Sustainability; among others.

Developing a strong framework to measure South-South contributions to poverty eradication, and strengthening institutional arrangements at the UN toward enhancing coherence and coordination among UN agencies, funds and programs, were emphasized.

In these times of multiple crises, the High-level Committee deliberations demonstrated the catalytic role of South-South and triangular cooperation. As expressed by the President of the General Assembly, “The Global South has scaled up South-South cooperation to strengthen institutional capacities while intensifying experience sharing and exchange of good practices.”

Developing countries acknowledged that while the pandemic, climate change and conflicts had hindered South-South cooperation and adversely affected their economies, the crises had also inspired robust collaboration among the countries of the Global South in order to support the recovery from the pandemic and to accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Concerted action was highlighted, in sectors such as health, food security and education; trade and investment; regional integration and infrastructure development; finance; environment; digitalization, industrialization and the use of science and technology for development.

Developed countries reiterated their commitment to advancing South-South cooperation as a positive driver for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It was noted that triangular cooperation plays a significant role, as a model that promotes collaboration among developed countries, developing countries, and international organizations.

General Assembly High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation, 21st Session

Date: 30 May-2 June 2023

▶ Video Recording of the 1st Meeting (30 May, 10:00-13:00)

▶ Video Recording of the 2nd Meeting (30 May, 15:00-18:00)

▶ Video Recording of the 3rd Meeting (31 May, 10:00-13:00)

▶ Video Recording of the 4th Meeting (31 May, 15:00-18:00)

▶ Video Recording of the 5th Meeting (2 June, 15:00-18:00)

📄 Statements

REPORT

Report of the High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation, 21st session (30 May-2 June 2023) Arabic Chinese English French Russian Spanish

PRE-SESSION MATERIALS

Provisional annotated agenda of the organizational meeting (SSC/21/L.1/Rev.1) Arabic Chinese English French Russian Spanish
Provisional annotated agenda and list of documents (SSC/21/L.2/Rev.1) Arabic Chinese English French Russian Spanish
Note by the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme on adoption of the agenda and organization of work (SSC/21/L.3/Rev.1) Arabic Chinese English French Russian Spanish

IN-SESSION DOCUMENTS

Review of progress made in implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, the new directions strategy for South-South cooperation, the Nairobi outcome document of the High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation and the Buenos Aires outcome document of the second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation – Report of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (SSC/21/1) Arabic Chinese English French Russian Spanish
Report of the Secretary-General on measures taken by United Nations organizations to implement decision 20/1 of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation through support for South-South and triangular cooperation to bolster human solidarity and accelerate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Global South and beyond (SSC/21/2) Arabic Chinese English French Russian Spanish

Organizational Meeting

On 1 May, the Organizational Meeting of the 21st session of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation convened to elect the Bureau for its 21st session and adopt its agenda. The Committee elected His Excellency Ambassador Peter Mohan Maithri Pieris, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, from the Group of Asia-Pacific States, as President. The Committee also elected three Vice-Presidents: Mrs. Joselyne Kwishaka, Second Counsellor (Republic of Burundi), from the Group of African States; Mr. Diego Antonino Cimino, First Secretary (Italy), from the Group of Western European and other States; and His Excellency Ambassador Dmitry S. Chumakov, Deputy Permanent Representative (Russian Federation), from the Group of Eastern European States. Ms. Kereeta Nicole Whyte, Deputy Permanent Representative (Barbados), from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, was elected Rapporteur of the High-level Committee. The UNDP Associate Administrator, representing the UNDP Administrator in his capacity of convenor of the High-level Committee session, addressed the Member States.

▶ Video Recording of the Organizational Meeting

South-South in Action Segment – Featuring South-South Trust Funds and Programmes

2 June, 15:00-15:30, Room CR 2: UNOSSC financially manages and supports implementation of trust funds that support collaboration and piloting of innovative and transformative South-South initiatives across the globe. The segment included:

Overview of impact of South-South Trust Funds and Programmes
IBSA Fund 2022 Report launch (read more about the launch and download the report)
Trust Funds partners and stakeholders’ remarks

▶ Video about South-South Trust Funds managed by UNOSSC

BACKGROUND MATERIAL ON SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

Documents and Reports:

Report of the Secretary-General on the State of South-South cooperation (A/77/297) [2022]
South-South cooperation, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 2022 (A/RES/77/185) [2022]
Report of the Secretary-General on the State of South-South cooperation (A/76/403) [2021]
South-South cooperation, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 2021 (A/RES/76/221) [2021]
Report of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation – Twentieth Session (A/76/39) [2021]
Operational activities for development: South-South cooperation for development, Report of the Second Committee* (A/75/463/Add.2) [2020]
Report of the Secretary-General on the State of South-South cooperation (A/75/371) [2020]
South-South cooperation, Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 2020 (A/RES/75/234) [2020]
Report of the Secretary-General on the State of South-South cooperation (A/74/336) [2019]
Report of the Secretary-General: Role of South-South cooperation and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Challenges and opportunities (A/73/383) [2018]
Report of the Secretary-General on the State of South-South cooperation (A/73/321) [2018]
Joint Inspection Unit progress report of the recommendations contained in the review of South-South and triangular cooperation in the United Nations system (JIU/REP/2018/2) [2018]
Report of the Secretary-General on the State of South-South cooperation (A/72/297) [2017]
Report of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation, 19th Session (A/71/39) [2016]

Relevant Historical Documents:

Further Information:

CONTACT INFORMATION

Denis Nkala, Chief, Intergovernmental and UN Systems Affairs E-mail: denis.nkala@unossc.org

Shams Banihani, Intergovernmental Policy Specialist E-mail: shams.banihani@unossc.org

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