The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) highlighted the important role of South-South and triangular cooperation in accelerating progress towards the deliverables of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) – the next 10-year Programme of Action for SIDS – during the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States.
“Together, we can ensure that SIDS are not left behind, but are at the forefront of sustainable development,” UNOSSC Director Dima Al-Khatib said in her message to the plenary of the Conference, that took place in Antigua and Barbuda 27-30 May 2024.
Ms. Al-Khatib also served as moderator of a fireside chat during the Interactive Dialogue on Enhancing critical forms of financing and aid effectiveness through collaborative partnerships: a conversation. The importance of South-South and triangular cooperation, especially SIDS-SIDS and regional cooperation in the areas of data sharing, statistics, evidence-based approaches, and building new foundational avenues of knowledge, among others were shared.
UNOSSC is committed to advancing sustainable development through robust South-South and triangular cooperation, particularly within the unique context of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other groups such as LDCs and LLDCs.
Relating to SIDS, UNOSSC’s commitments, guided by the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) of SIDS4, focus on mobilizing partnerships that integrate South-South and triangular cooperation, complemented by North-South initiatives. These collaborations are essential for addressing climate change, enhancing disaster risk reduction, and promoting sustainability.
At UNOSSC, we see a strong alignment between ABAS and our existing work in SIDS, particularly in areas such as climate resilience, economic diversification, and access to finance. ABAS reinforces our commitment to these priorities and highlights new areas of focus, including the critical role of digital transformation and innovation in SIDS development. The mandate of the Office to mainstream South-South and triangular cooperation provides a strong foundation for addressing these emerging issues and supporting SIDS in achieving resilient prosperity.
The experience of the Office in managing funds and implementing projects that support the specific needs of developing countries can be leveraged to drive progress in implementing the ABAS. Notably, SIDS are the largest beneficiary group within the portfolios of the India, Brazil, and South Africa (IBSA) Fund and the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, managed by UNOSSC. Collectively, these funds have supported 63 country-level and multi-country projects in 33 countries, channelling over $55.5 million to SIDS across all geographical regions. The knowledge and good practices generated through those projects are being promoted to facilitate their scaling up across the Global South. These projects have yielded impactful results that pave the way for scaling up support as we embark on the new 10-year action plan.
With knowledge and experience as cornerstones of South-South and triangular cooperation, digital and innovation-related platforms and analytical capacity housed in UNOSSC make more than 950 solutions, including over 220 for SIDS, available to all countries for experience sharing and scaling up. These solutions – accessible via UNOSSC’s South-South Galaxy repository of South-South and triangular cooperation solutions and good practices – are related to cross-cutting thematic areas such as environment and climate resilience, technology and technology transfer, social sectors (education and health), as well as economic development (mainly focused on SDG1, 8, 13, 2 and SDG17). Examples include:
- FAO’s FAO-China South-South Cooperation (SSC) Programme to assist Small Island Developing States (SIDS) strengthen their capacities and tackle common development challenges launched in 2023.
- UNESCO’s capacity-building programme to support Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in monitoring and developing policies for creativity launched in 2022.
