19 December 2011: Marking the UN International Day for South-South Cooperation, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) urged countries, development agencies and other key stakeholders to extend and sustain their cooperation in this regard.

According to IFAD, 95 percent of the world’s population considered “food insecure” live in South Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa, and calls to further cooperation in policy coordination and other ventures that can achieve tangible results “on-the-ground” are increasing. This has increased the emphasis on South-South cooperation, which focuses on sharing technical developments across a diverse range of sectors including agriculture and water management.

Secretary-General Ban, in his message to commemorate the day, stressed the importance of South-South cooperation for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other development goals. He underscored the importance of such cooperation within the international development architecture, and encouraged emerging economies to move beyond their roles as recipients of aid, to increase their role as providers within this framework.

IFAD, which said South-South cooperation is core to many of its ventures, urged countries to increase their role, emphasizing that this can result in larger payoffs for both parties. In turn, IFAD is scaling up its strategic support for collaboration among developing countries. [Statement of UN Secretary-General] [IFAD Press Release] [UN Press Release]