UN Inter-Agency Mechanism on South-South Cooperation Holds First 2024 Quarterly Meeting
The UN Inter-Agency Mechanism for South-South and Triangular Cooperation convened 30 January 2024 to highlight priority areas for collaboration during 2024.
The meeting was chaired by UNOSSC Director Dima Al-Khatib, over 40 UN South-South focal points participated. She noted that the Third South Summit took place last week under the theme ‘Leaving No One Behind’.
The outcome document of the Third South Summit highlights the importance and unique characteristics of South-South cooperation, emphasizing it as a form of solidarity among Southern countries that aids in achieving development goals and maintaining national sovereignty and mutual benefit.
Participants were also briefed on next steps in the rollout 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. Following their December release, the Guidelines have been shared with UNDP Regional Directors in their capacity as co-Vice Chairs of the Regional Collaborative Platforms; and are now being sent to Regional Commissions.
UNOSSC provided a detailed overview of the Knowledge Management work of the Office. The Knowledge Management team is developing a series of integrated, complementary and new services to facilitate knowledge exchange, capacity development and technology development and transfer. South-South Galaxy is currently undergoing a major overhaul aimed at improving functionalities and user experience. The South-South and Triangular Cooperation Solutions Lab, one of the main service lines of UNOSSC’s Strategic Framework, will facilitate innovation and knowledge sharing, focusing on sustainable development solutions that are effective, scalable, and context-specific. The 2nd phase of the South-South Global Thinkers Initiative will focus on strengthening evidence-based policy making through rigorous research and analysis. Click here to see the entire PPT.
WFP provided an update on its South-South cooperation work. WFP has a dedicated 10-staff South-South cooperation Unit within its Programme Division which provides guidance to and coordination for its South-South and triangular cooperation work across the organization. In WFPs strategic plan, South-South cooperation is linked to country capacity strengthening. 91% of Country Strategic Plans approved between 2019 and 2022 referred to South-South and triangular cooperation.
WFP Key Achievements
OHRLLS briefed on preparations for the upcoming ministerial meeting to be held during the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3), 18-21 June, 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Participants provided initial inputs and comments to a Draft 2024 Workplan of the Inter-Agency Mechanism. Participants were also encouraged to share the UNOSSC South-South Monthly newsletter widely among partners.
The previous meeting of the Inter-Agency Mechanism took place 11 September 2023.
