In response to the General Assembly resolutions A/Res/76/221, A/Res/77/185, and A/Res/78/167 which have mandated the UN development system and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) to mainstream South-South and triangular cooperation into the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks and regional collaborative frameworks, UNOSSC is strengthening support to UN Country Teams and regional UN development system entities to leverage South-South and triangular cooperation modalities.
Following the 2023 release of the Guidelines for the Integration of South-South and Triangular Cooperation into the Country- and Regional-Level Work of the United Nations Development System by the Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the United Nations Development Coordination Office (UNDCO) with the Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, UNOSSC and UNDCO have embarked on a series of webinars to engage country and regional-level UN Development System colleagues.
The first webinar was held on 3 July 2024 in the frame of the Latin America and the Caribbean Peer Support Group (LAC PSG). It was held in collaboration with UNDCO in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with a focus on the UN Resident Coordinators Offices and Country Teams formulating their next Common Country Analysis (CCA) and UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCFs).
The goals of these efforts were to enhance understanding of and increase capacity to utilize the Guidelines for integrating South-South and triangular cooperation into the Common Country Analysis, United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCFs), Regional Collaborative Platform (RCP) Workplans and regional collaborative processes.
These were rolled out also in the frame of UNOSSC’s Regional Engagement Plan, which outlines the efforts UNOSSC will undertake to deepen collaboration with regional partners (starting with UN entities in the regions) to leverage South-South and triangular cooperation for regional and country priorities.
In this frame, the webinars provided information also on sources for financing of South-South and triangular cooperation, including Trust Funds managed by UNOSSC and other financing windows/mechanisms; shared information on key knowledge portals, networks and other knowledge resources to facilitate South-South and triangular cooperation; shared tools, methodologies, and inputs that UNOSSC offers in support of South-South and triangular cooperation as a complementary modality to catalyze progress towards the SDGs and national priorities.
The Webinar in the Latin America region included Heads of Resident Coordinator Offices (HRCOs) and economists from Argentina, Cuba, Guatemala, México, Panamá, and Uruguay as well as the UNDCO LAC Economist and Partnership Support Officer. Representatives from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) were also present.
This webinar was the first in the series of planned regional webinars to roll-out the Guidelines. A similar webinar in the Africa region was held on 10 July 2024 in collaboration with DCO in Africa.
