South-South & Triangular Cooperation

Since the adoption of the 1978 Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, developing countries have been calling on the UN agencies to intensify their support for South–South cooperation. The need to take concrete measures, within the UN system, to support developing countries in maximizing the benefits and impact of South–South and triangular cooperation has been reiterated many times. At the governance, oversight and political level, these issues are also being consistently raised at the governing bodies of UN agencies, the UN High-level Committee on South–South Cooperation and the General Assembly. One of the recurrent demands is the need for “better UN system-wide coordination and tackling of the continued fragmentation”.

In his 2017 Report on the State of South–South Cooperation to the General Assembly, the UN Secretary General mandated the UN Office for South–South Cooperation to coordinate, in consultation with the UN agencies, the preparation of the UN system-wide South–South cooperation strategy to “achieve more coherent and coordinated support by the United Nations system”.

An important element of South-South and triangular cooperation is the use of the learnings of similar countries in development cooperation activities.  It is important that such methods are used which have been successful in a similar environment and that there is no need to reinvent the wheel.   The use of appropriate technology and solutions works very well especially when there is a big constraint of resources.  

 “Nothing for me without me”, is the voice from the South in the field of development cooperation. It is within this framework that the UPU is developing its strategy in the field of South–South (SSC) and triangular cooperation (TrC).

South–South and triangular cooperation constitute one of the intervention methods under the new development cooperation policy, and should serve to reinforce UPU activities and support national and regional development efforts.

This cooperation method help to strengthen institutional and technical capabilities and improve the sharing of knowledge and experience between developing countries. The UPU take a proactive and pioneering role in promoting this approach, with a view to reducing the implementation costs of development cooperation projects through innovative forms of cooperation with the countries of the South.

The aim is to increase the involvement of Northern countries so as to find solutions for the Southern countries within a framework of triangular cooperation, and to link project outcomes to national and regional priorities and to the Sustainable Development Goals, in order to obtain support from the international community and wider civil society.

Regarding south-south triangular cooperation, several activities have started from 2019;

• Strengthening the postal sector to fulfil its social obligation (2019 – 2020, Japan Special fund)
• Capacity building for LDCs in Asia through APPC individual training course (2019 and 2020, China Special fund)
• 200 green computers from Korea Post for Pacific

Appeal for cash contributions to the Special Fund for South–South Triangular Cooperation in 2020