UNDP ADMINISTRATOR

MESSAGE ON THE UNITED NATIONS DAY FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

19 December 2010

To achieve the Millennium Development Goals, fight climate change, and tackle the global challenges our world faces, strong partnerships are needed. In the 21st century development, those partnerships are very diverse – as is reflected in the rise of the emerging economies and the growing importance of South-South cooperation.

The strategies, policies, skills, and technical expertise which can be exchanged through South-South cooperation are often those best suited to meeting development challenges faced in the South.

Facilitating South-South exchanges of experience and knowledge is central to the work of UNDP. This is part of my vision for ensuring that UNDP is truly a knowledge-based organization, which helps develop the capacities countries need to make the transformational change in development status they seek. South-South cooperation takes many different forms and UNDP will continue to be a loyal partner in facilitating such relationships.

For example, through the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth in Brasilia, a partnership with the Government of Brazil, UNDP has facilitated efforts to make Latin American experiences with cash transfers and social protection known to other regions. In India, we helped organize a conference which shared practical experience from Latin America with Asian countries already undertaking or considering such programmes. In Addis Ababa, we joined with the Government of Ethiopia and the International Poverty Reduction Centre in Beijing to share experiences on poverty reduction. UNDP also hosts the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation and fully supports its work.

On this UN Day for South-South Cooperation, let all of us in the development community commit ourselves to harnessing the potential of South-South cooperation to help bring about major breakthroughs in development.