22 March, Buenos Aires – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, Mr. Achim Steiner stressed the importance of increased cooperation among countries in the South to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable progress.

“South-South and triangular cooperation is critical to the 2030 Agenda and the overarching goal of eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions.” Steiner said.

Mr. Steiner, who was also appointed as the Secretary-General of the Conference, was addressing participants of the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA+40). Hosted by the government of Argentina, the meeting brought together over 3800 participants, including heads of state and ministers from around the world.

Forty years ago, Argentina hosted the “Conference on Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries” where the historic “Buenos Aires Plan of Action” was adopted, highlighting the importance of South-South cooperation in addressing challenges confronting the developing world. Today, as an example of the progress made, trade among countries in the South accounts for more than one quarter of all world trade, while foreign direct investment outflows from the South represent one-third of global Foreign Direct Investment flows.

“South-South Cooperation plays an indispensable role in today’s development landscape. It represents a shared vision among the peoples and countries of the South that is shaped by close historical realities, similar development pathways, as well as shared challenges,” said Steiner. “UNDP has a long history as a trusted knowledge broker, partnership facilitator, and a capacity development supporter for South-South and Triangular cooperation,” said Steiner. “We are committed to building on that legacy, leveraging on our established development expertise, global network, presence and trusted partnerships in over 170 countries and territories.

At the end of this year’s conference, all Member States of the UN committed to taking concrete actions to reenergize South-South and Triangular Cooperation to achieve the 2030 Agenda as part of the newly adopted “Buenos Aires Outcome Document”. The conference also demonstrated a growing recognition of the importance and complementarity of South-South and Triangular cooperation.

Today, solutions created in the South are delivering lasting results around the world.

· Colombia and the Dominican Republic exchange expertise on resilient climate-resistant rice production.

·  Cameroon learned from Ethiopia how to best to implement their HIV Safety Net Programme.

· Cooperation among Australia, China, and Papua New Guinea is piloting ways to tackle malaria.

· Bangladesh pioneered and online platform allowing millions of people to access free public services online without needing to travel long distances and is now being shared and replicated in other countries.

The UNDP Chief highlighted the importance of all stakeholders’ responsibility and the opportunity to take forward the outcomes of the conference, to use the linkages and connections made to tackle climate change, address inequalities, as well as improve institutional arrangements both within and between countries to improve cooperation and trade.

It was agreed that the multilateral development system comes away from the BAPA+40 conference in a better position to support South-South cooperation and implement the 2030 Agenda.

Publication: Southern Development Solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals.