26 August 2015: Governments and stakeholders discussed South-South and Triangular Cooperation in the context of the post-2015 development agenda during a High-level Multi-stakeholder Strategy Forum. The Forum was organized under the auspices of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation, UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and its Global South-South Development Expo Secretariat (GSSD Expo), in collaboration with the World Alliance of Cities Against Poverty (WACAP), UN system institutions and other partners.

The Forum on ‘Scaling-up Global Support for South-South and Triangular Cooperation in the Context of the Post-2015 Development Agenda’ took place on 25-26 August 2015, in Macao, China, as a follow-up to the High-level Meeting on South-South and Triangular Cooperation in the Post-2015 Development Agenda, on the topic of ‘Financing for Development in the South and Technology Transfer,’ on 17-18 May 2015, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

During the two-day meeting in August, participants discussed: a long-term South-South vision in the context of the post-2015 development agenda; lessons from existing multilateral South-South support platforms and mechanisms; the efficacy of the existing multilateral South-South advocacy, financing and operational support architecture; and ways to develop a more inclusive partnership supported by a self-sustaining global and regional South-South support architecture.

Delivering remarks on behalf of UNGA President Sam Kutesa, Denis Antoine, Permanent Representative of Grenada, stressed the need for a renewed global partnership for development in which the needs of developing countries are given priority. Noting the challenges faced by developing countries in improving energy and transport infrastructure, enhancing their productive capacities, and accessing technology, he called for the Forum to consider ways to effectively implement the measures and deliverables in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), such as the proposed new infrastructure forum, the technology facilitation mechanism (TFM), and initiatives toward scaling up access to long-term and concessional financing for critical projects. He further underscored the need to build a more self-sustaining global South-South support architecture that addresses global and regional challenges, while preserving its principles of respect for national sovereignty, ownership, equality, non-conditionality and mutual benefit.

Yiping Zhou, Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and UNOSSC Director, reiterated that South-South cooperation “is a partnership among equals based on solidarity,” and said the UN’s job is to help scale up global support for South-South cooperation toward achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Shamshad Akhtar, Executive Secretary, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), drew participants’ attention to the challenges posed by South-South Cooperation’s complexity, its less-than-robust institutional coordination framework, and the lack of systematic measurement and reporting mechanisms, augmented by the lack of a specialized reporting hub and the South-South Cooperation growth, both in volume and in the diversity of its delivery models.

With regard to implementing the post-2015 sustainable development agenda, Akhtar cautioned against a focus on the success of large economies in hopes of a ‘trickle down’ to less developed countries. Instead, South-South and triangular cooperation should be the centerpiece of implementation efforts. She called for exploiting mutual interdependencies and defining effective relationships, including in coordinating approaches to mitigating climate vulnerabilities. [Forum Website] [UNGA President Remarks] [Envoy on South-South Cooperation Remarks] [ESCAP Executive Secretary Remarks]