By Javier Surasky-
On July 25,
the UN Secretary-General presented his annual report on the State of
South-South Cooperation (A/79/230).
I believe it is worth making some reflections on its content for two reasons:
- It helps to understand South-South Cooperation (SSC) 's space in the United Nations system.
- It shows the type of reports the United Nations should immediately stop producing if they want to be effective.
The
document is structured around six themes: a vision of SSC and Triangular
(SSC&T) in the current global context, the support provided by the UN to
strengthen resilience (the report uses the word "generation" as if
they hadn't already demonstrated it) to face challenges, the progress in
implementing the recommendations made in the outcome document of the Second
United Nations High-level Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA+40) and
the coordination of UN support for SSC&T. The closing takes the form of
conclusions and recommendations.
In his
presentation, the Secretary-General (SG) points out the following meetings as
critical moments for SSC during 2023:
- XXI session of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation.
- Summit on Science, Technology, and Innovation of the Group of 77 and China.
- Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.
- Third South Summit.
- Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States.
The SG also
mentions that the Summit of the Future will be a starting point to further
accelerate the path towards the SDGs "through support for South-South and
triangular cooperation."
In the
analysis of the global context, reference is made to the growing leadership of
Southern countries in spaces linked to global economic governance, where it
points out the successions of the G20 presidencies by India (2022), Indonesia
(2023), Brazil (2024) and South Africa (2025). However, the report does not
establish clear links between this fact and SSC.
Among the
main issues on which developing countries worked collaboratively during 2023,
it points out digital technologies and other technologies applied to climate
change mitigation, strengthening food and energy security, promoting
development financing, and reducing inequalities, including closing the digital
divide between developed and developing countries so that the benefits of
digital transformation do not leave anyone behind.
When
referring to UN support for the "creation" of resilience, the focus
is on collaborative measures developing countries adopted with UN support to 1.
Recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, and 2. Deal with the effects of climate
change while transitioning to a green digital economy.
It is
highlighted that different entities of the UN Development System "designed
programs and mechanisms to help Member States deal with the effects of climate
change through South-South and triangular cooperation" (paragraph 15).
This part
of the report devotes attention to supporting digital transformation,
highlighting that, as a consequence of the pandemic experience, "Many
United Nations organizations intensified their support to Member States to
strengthen their digital literacy, electronic connectivity, digital governance
and e-commerce through gender-inclusive South-South and triangular
cooperation" (paragraph 19). Examples of the work of the Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the International Telecommunication
Union, UNDP, and UNCTAD, among others, are included.
On an
always sensitive issue, the SG explains that the growing use of data in
decision-making contributed to the measurement of SSC. He underlines that
UNCTAD and the UN regional commissions supported eight developing countries to
collect data and report on their measurement of South-South cooperation. As a
result, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico began drafting guidelines for conducting
pilot tests to measure SSC. In the same direction, the Islamic Development Bank
presented its South-South
Cooperation Index, which measures nine key dimensions for national SSC
ecosystems: 1. Political Will; 2. National SSC Strategy; 3. National SSC
Governance; 4. SSC Information Bases; 5. Connected Actors; 6. SSC Financing
Mechanisms; 7. SSC Performance Management; 8. Internal SSC Activities; and 9.
External SSC Activities.
When
analyzing the progress in implementing the BAPA+40 recommendations, the focus
is on how UN system entities advanced in prioritizing SSC&T in their
policies and operational activities, as well as on the efforts being developed
to design methodologies to measure SSC.
I find it
challenging to understand the reasons for separating this chapter from the
previous one. The themes are basically the same. Many elements in this part
serve to frame and better understand what is reported earlier.
The SG
informs us that surveys conducted in 2023 by the Department of Economic and
Social Affairs to obtain information from Governments on UN operational
activities and by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation to
gather data from UN system entities show that all of them applied the United
Nations strategy on SSC&T for sustainable development. As a result,
"81% of the United Nations entities that responded to the Department of
Economic and Social Affairs survey indicated that they had included South-South
cooperation in strategic plans, and 86% had integrated South-South cooperation
results into institutional reports in 2023, compared to 73% and 79%,
respectively, in 2022" through the designation of South-South focal points
(58%), the establishment of units dedicated explicitly to SSC (29%) and the
allocation of a budget for SSC (20%) (paragraph 29).
A notable
fact is that, in 2023, for the first time, World Food Programme offices were
able to report SSC&T indicators, reporting the existence of "24
national policies, strategies, programs and other systemic components that
contributed to zero hunger and other Sustainable Development Goals"
(paragraph 34).
Likewise,
UNDP integrated SSC&T into more than 570 projects in 102 countries. That
means that 12% of its projects include SSC&T elements, a relevant figure
but one that needs to grow. Other institutions mentioned for their
contributions to SSC&T are UNEP, the International Fund for Agricultural
Development, the International Organization for Migration, and the ILO. Added
is the mention of the roles played by the Economic and Social Commission for
Western Asia and UNICEF in supporting SSC between countries from different
regions.
We find the
statement in paragraph 37 fundamental- It explains that "the greater
importance that developing countries attach to collaborative solutions
justifies the continued integration of South-South and triangular cooperation
into the core activities of many United Nations entities."
In an
approach that includes actors other than the UN system, it is stated that:
- States that "report having received support from the development system to organize global, regional and national knowledge-sharing initiatives on Global South solutions" have grown from 27% in 2021 to 47% in 2023 (paragraph 45).
- Regarding the private sector, the information is very weak: we are only told that "the United Nations Global Compact leveraged its multi-stakeholder partnerships to promote the ideals of South-South and triangular cooperation" (paragraph 55)
- On volunteers, it is reported that the UN volunteer program mobilized 12,840 people in 2023, of which 11,340 (88%) came from the Global South, with a majority participation of women (55%) (paragraph 65).
When
referring to the coordination and coherence of UN support for SSC&T,
attention is focused on the progress of the United Nations Office for
South-South Cooperation in promoting them throughout the UN system. A series of
measures that this Office took in 2023 for this purpose are listed, mainly
focused on information gathering, capacity building to integrate SSC&T by
UN system entities, management of SSC&T trust funds, and the promotion of
intra- and interregional dialogues. With a view already oriented towards
States, the UN Office for SSC published in 2023 a Handbook
on Integrating South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Voluntary National
Reviews.
In the chapter on conclusions and recommendations, the report directs attention to
ways SSC&T can support the "six transitions"
that frame the work of the United Nations development system today.
There,
States are encouraged to:
- Use SSC&T to facilitate the development and access to appropriate technologies, digital transition, and the inclusion of science, artificial intelligence, and data analysis as pathways to development, considering the interests of future generations.
- Prioritize youth-oriented SSC initiatives and promote their effective participation in policy-making processes.
- Use the ideals of SSC&T to address new security challenges, including cyber threats.
- Improve regional capacities for vaccine development and expand collaborative initiatives in the Global South, especially with Least Developed Countries, landlocked developing countries, and Small Island Developing States.
At the same
time, the United Nations system is called upon to:
- Support Member States in enhancing the establishment and development of platforms for exchanging innovations in education and pedagogical methods using technological advances through SSC&T.
- Facilitate the exchange of good practices and successful policies in sustainable development financing innovation, paying attention to policy dialogues between multiple stakeholders, mentioning the private sector, international financial institutions, and multilateral development banks, but not civil society or academia.
The leaders
of system entities are mainly required to harness the potential of SSC&T
for the achievement of the SDGs through:
- Accelerating the implementation of the United Nations system-wide strategy on South-South and Triangular Cooperation for sustainable development.
- Fully integrating SSC&T into the work of the national, regional, and global levels of the UN system.
- United Nations resident coordinators are required to continue leading the integration of SSC&T in work at the country level.
Multilateral
development banks are called upon to lead reforms of the global financial
architecture and take measures to address financial disruptions and debt burden
"in order to address the priorities of the Global South and ensure more
inclusive and effective global economic governance" (paragraph 72).
Broadly,
all stakeholders are called upon to establish partnerships aimed at maximizing
the impact of SSC&T.
Conclusion
The report
is extremely weak. If it intends to provide information on how the United
Nations system incorporates and supports SSC, there is only useful information
in the segment referring to progress in implementing the BAPA+40
recommendations. The report does not bring new ideas, provocative statements,
or future guidelines.
Worse, the
link between the actions described and SSC&T is unclear. Sometimes, I felt
I was reading a document on any other topic. For example, paragraph 22 on
promoting the use of digital technologies to boost trade says: "In 2023,
the Economic Commission for Europe prepared a policy note on monitoring
progress in implementing sustainable digital trade facilitation focused on the
United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia, namely
Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The policy note allows for
evidence-based policy-making for the adoption of specific measures to
facilitate cross-border trade." The SSC component there is not obvious.
The context
analysis forgets to refer to multiple situations of deprivation and tensions
that the UN is going through today and are essential to understand its work in
SSC&T: social tension, tendency towards extremes and political instability,
renewal of the North-South divide, and de-financing. Some statements made in
this part are, at the very least, easily contestable, such as when it is stated
that the call made by the BRICS to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates,
Ethiopia, and Iran is linked to their intention to strengthen SSC.
Not a
single concrete mention of financing elements appears throughout the work. How
much did the United Nations invest in strengthening projects with SSC&T
elements? With what counterparts? Is incorporating SSC&T financially
beneficial for the UN system?
There are
also no concrete mentions of the impacts or results of the system's efforts in
advancing its objectives.
The final
recommendations directed to the UN system by its institutional leader are very
poor: support members in establishing good practices and systematizing
successful actions and policies. Everyone interested in SSC&T expects much
more from the UN.
More
serious are the recommendations to system leaders, which have the primary form
of "do your job" according to the rules and guidelines of the
institution they work for: the United Nations.
There is no
specific treatment of triangular cooperation, which, by its nature, implies
challenges and opportunities that differ from those of SSC. References to
non-state actors are minimal, without even a mention of civil society or
academia.
The report
only allows for an incomplete, limited, and poor vision in its projection of
the state of SSC&T within the UN system, based on information already
available in other documents, without providing integrative analysis when
seeking to bring them together. It is a report whose structure responds to the
past century, pretending to be current by filling in a format that smells of
mothballs with (limited) updated information and, therefore, practically
useless for the information and work needs of the current international world.
