BAPA+40 Side Event: South-South Cooperation on Peace and Development

Date: 19 March | Time: 8.45am – 10.30am | Address: Leandro N. Alem 246, Capital Federal | Room: Salón Auditorio del Archivo General de la Nación (room capacity: 120) | Format: panel discussion  

Conveners:

• BRICS Policy Center: Dr Isabel Rocha de Siqueira is a senior researcher on international development at the BRICS Policy Center (BPC), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a lecturer at the International Relations Institute (IRI), at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). She has been part of the Global South Thinkers on Peace and Development group since its inception, in 2018. In close collaboration with its experienced participants and research support from BPC, she has recently written “The Case for South-South Cooperation on Peace and Development (SSC on P&D)”, with the support an UNOSSC’s grant to support the Global South thinkers on Peace & Development applied research on SSC on P&D.
• United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), South-South Cooperation on Peace and Development initiative. Presentation of UNOSSC Publication “South-South in Action on Peace and Development”, a thematic publication showcasing 21 cases studies of South-South and triangular for peace and development offered by UN agencies, member states and inter-governmental organizations.

 

Panelists:

• BRICS Policy Center (BPC), Rio de Janeiro/Brazil, and Global South Thinkers on Peace and Development), Dr. Isabel Rocha de Siqueira
• UNOSSC, Cecilia Milesi, Senior Adviser South-South Cooperation on Peace & Development
• Rwanda government, Rwanda Cooperation Initiative (RCI), Mr. Louis Antoine Muhire, CEO
• Argentina, Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (Equipo Argentino de Antropología Forense, EAAF)
• Commonwealth Secretariat, Ms. Tres-Ann Kremer, Head of Good Offices for Peace and Adviser Caribbean States
• UNESCO, Clare Stark, Strategic Planning Specialist and UNESCO South-South Cooperation Focal point, Bureau of Strategic Planning (UNESCO HQ)
• Department of Peacebuilding and Political Affairs (DPPA), Ms. Anita Mathur, Senior Political Affairs Officer and Secretary of the Committee, Division for Palestinian Rights

 

Concept note:

In the context of the 2030 Agenda and 40 years after Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA), we have not only the opportunity to tackle grave and varied challenges in a more ambitious way, but also the responsibility to learn as much as we can from the previous decades of South-South Cooperation (SSC). Co-organized with the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), the proposed panel departs from the research-based finding that SSC has been making key contributions to Peace & Development (P&D) to prevent and transform the root causes of conflicts and ensure long-term positive change after the aftermath of made-man humanitarian crisis. To explore the synergies between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), interlinked with the debate on the sustaining peace agenda and the strengthening of South-South Cooperation is a matter of great relevance in a moment of growing complex conflict and crisis. Those synergies, however, have been little systematized, as research is still produced separately by peacebuilding, security and development communities and actors (including UN actors). In this context, the side-event aims at sharing knowledge about SSC on P&D, discussing diagnosed opportunities, emerging initiatives, good practices and challenges. The panel will present two research papers:

• The Case of South-South Cooperation on Peace and Development
• The South-South in Action on Peace and Development

The panelists will present concrete experiences of South-South solidarity for peace as implemented in various regions, presenting policy recommendations for the future and based in lessons learned from practice. This event is organized in partnership with UNOSSC, showing that SSC has comparative advantages in the field of P&D and indicating it is vital to strengthen institutions in the South so that knowledge in general can be systematically produced and shared and best practices can be scaled up. The discussions will build on that vision with case studies and new knowledge products based on the collaborative work of the recently founded Global South Thinkers on Peace & Development community of practice. This side-event gathers specialists from different United Nations member states, agencies and inter-governmental organizations with great experience in conflict prevention and sustaining peace.    

Contact details:

• Cecilia Milesi, Senior Adviser South-South Cooperation on Peace and Development, milesi@unossc.org
• Isabel Rocha de Siqueira, BRICS Policy Center, desiqueira.ir@gmail.com