UNOSSC and the g7+ join forces to support Fragile-to-Fragile and South-South cooperation for peace and development

Southern solidarity for peace and development is central to sustain durable peace and promote inclusive development. Southern peoples must lead their own processes to create contexts of dignity, justice and human security. Guided by this conviction, the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and the g7+ signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote and strengthen g7+ fragile-to-fragile (F2F) cooperation as a modality for South-South cooperation on peace and development. The memorandum was signed by the Mr. Helder Da Costa (g7+), and the Director of UNOSSC and Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation, Mr. Jorge Chediek. The official signing took place at the UNOSSC offices located in New York. The Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations seeks to design a long-term programme to facilitate knowledge-sharing among g7+ countries in relation to conflict prevention and sustainable peace and development. In highlighting the role that South-South and F2F Cooperation can play (through trainings, policy, publications and other means) this agreement is designed to further encourage and support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The signing of the MoU builds upon previous collaborative work between UNOSSC and the g7+ which already includes a South-South in Action publication on Fragile-to-Fragile Cooperation. The main areas of focus in the agreement covers 5 overarching themes:

• Reconciliation, peacebuilding, and sustaining peace;
• Natural resource management (including conflict-sensitive businesses);
• Conduct and management of elections;
• Public finance management;
• Managing transitions of UN Peacekeeping and political missions.

This broad scope of work allows Member States to pursue a ‘demand-driven’ process in which they determine the areas of cooperation that will be most useful to them and coordinate accordingly. Combined with the ongoing efforts of the g7+ to support the implementation of the New Deal, and address acute and emerging crises, this joint agreement directly contributes to the facilitation of peer learning, knowledge generation and capacity development. The three pillars highlighted above will be bolstered by this process and ultimately create the opportunity for more and better South-South cooperation for some of the most vulnerable states.   In this video, Habib Mayar, Deputy Secretary General of the g 7+ presents the rationale and importance of this important milestone in the partnership with UNOSSC