At the inauguration of South-South Cooperation Day, Dima Al-Khatib, Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, recognized Colombia’s leadership role in the global south.
Armenia, September 11, 2025 – For three days, Colombia became the meeting point for international cooperation, commemorating South-South Cooperation Day in the city of Armenia, Quindío. A space for dialogue, integration, and the construction of solutions to advance peace, close gaps, and achieve sustainable development.
The meeting, led by the Presidential Agency for International Cooperation (APC Colombia) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the support of the University of Quindío, brought together vice ministers, ambassadors, and directors of cooperation from more than 30 countries of Asia, Eurasia, Africa, and Latin America, as well as local authorities and cooperation liaisons from 10 departments of the Colombian National System of International Cooperation.
The official opening was led by Dima Al-Khatib, Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation; Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir, Deputy Minister of Multilateral Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Eleonora Betancur González, Director General of APC Colombia.
Dima Al-Khatib noted that the region has changed the course of international cooperation, and Colombia has assumed a leadership role in an innovative way: “Among the countries traditionally known as the Global South, today we find some of the most dynamic economies in the world. Previously seen as recipients of aid, these countries have transformed to become new development partners. Our host, Colombia, exemplifies these changes,” said the director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation.
The director of APC Colombia, Eleonora Betancur González, highlighted that Colombia is positioned as the largest implementer of bilateral South-South cooperation initiatives in the region, with more than 1,400 experiences developed since 2010, which promote sectors such as sustainable agriculture, energy transition, culture, and peacebuilding.
For his part, Vice Minister Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir asserted that “the best way to talk about international cooperation is by starting with what happens in the territories. We cannot reach communities without listening and gathering their expectations about what our diplomacy should be. Today, many of the major international issues—such as migration and human rights—are precisely based on community-based logic. This is the essence of community diplomacy: building foreign policy based on the voices, needs, and knowledge of the people.”
The agenda included spaces for dialogue and integration, highlighting the Second Meeting of Emerging Development Partners, an Intra-CELAC meeting, international panels, knowledge-sharing labs, and the SNCIC Territorial Meeting on the Coffee Region, Antioquia, Central Region, and Santanderes.
One of the most relevant projects is the ‘Colombia to the World Peace Program’, which shares peacebuilding experiences with regions including Africa and Asia. This initiative, supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), channeled $2.779 billion between 2024 and 2025, focusing on replicable reconciliation processes.
This year, the meeting’s theme was “Innovation in South-South Cooperation. Our North is the South,” a declaration that highlights the voice, priorities, and relevance of countries of the Global South in the planet’s sustainable development.
Source: https://www.cancilleria.gov.co/newsroom/news/onu-destaca-colombia-lider-sur-global-receptor-ayuda-socio-estrategico-cooperacion?s=08
