SSC now an integral part of Southern landscape

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with representatives of the G77 and China on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, January 11, 2012. (photo/Xinhua)

South-South cooperation (SSC) has moved from strength to strength and is now an integral part of the landscape in the South, John William Ashe, the newly-elected president of the United Nations General Assembly, said prior to a forthcoming SSC forum in Hong Kong.

“In fact, it has increased tremendously and it now covers a wider scope of economic development, Ashe added. “In fact we could say that South-South Cooperation takes in all aspects of a country’s economic development.

Ashe, the permanent representativeof Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations (UN), is also the President of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation, a subcommittee of the UN General Assembly.On June 14, he waselectedpresident ofthe 68th session of the General Assembly. He will assume the presidency in September 2013.

He discussed SSC and other related issues in an interview with the Hong Kong-based Asia Pacific Daily, together with the United Nations Bureau of the Xinhua News Agency, just days before the Annual Forum on South-South Cooperation for Sustainable Development to be held in Hong Kong.

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UN allows every member state to have an equal voice**

SSC generally refers to cooperation among developing countries. The word “Southern is used due to the geographically spectrum for developing countries. Ashe has been a long-time and advocate of the SSC at the United Nations. This time, he attends the forum in Hong Kong as the President of the United Nations General Assembly High-level Committee of South-South Cooperation.

SSC has become a mainstream modality in all regions and most sectors. Moreover, Ashe said that SSC offers a more democratic and equitable partnership nowadays.

He did not go into details of the latest SSC developments, but a recent conference in New Delhi organized by UNDESA and an Indian think tank comes to the conclusion that despite the fact that SSC has been in existence for the past several decades, it is only in recent years that it has attracted huge attention across various discussions on international cooperation. This includes intensified inter-governmental dialogue on SSC in the United Nations as well as at the High Level Forums on Aid Effectiveness of the OECD/DAC, where a larger role for SSC is being discussed, given the rapid economic growth experienced by many Southern economies. In these discussions, there have been serious efforts at viewing SSC as a process that is distinct from the North-South relations. As a result, the expectations from SSC have increased manifold.

Ashe emphasized the role of the United Nation in SSC. “The United Nations is one of the few existing organizations which hold the world’s largest representation of countries and it allows every member state to have an equal voice despite its size, particularly in its General Assembly, he said.

The UN has supported the South-South cooperation continuously. Under the overall guidance of the General Assembly’s High-level Committee on SSC, which was chaired by Ashe, the UN promote and support SSC through various organizations, specialized agencies, regional commissions, funds and programs. In particular, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Special Unit for SSC play a coordinating role in mainstreaming SSC throughout the UN system.

According to Ashe, in the last 25 years, the conceptualization of development at the United Nations has changed dramatically. Where once it was seen as a simple process of training people in science and technology and building the industrial productive capacity necessary to raise the Gross National Product (GNP), it is now envisaged as an enriching economic and social transformation centered on human well-being. The unsustainable use of the natural environment has been replaced by a core concern for the environmental sustainability of human activity. Issue of social equity, gender discrimination and quality of governance that were never seen relevant are now issues inseparable from development.

“The UN plays a prominent role as promoters and catalysts in promoting SSC. By virtue of its strong operational arms, extensive resources and the unique position in the international arena, it enjoys incomparable advantages in facilitating SSC, said Ashe.

South-South cooperation will never replace South-North Cooperation

Asked about the relations between SSC and South-North cooperation, Ashe said: “As the name implies, it is intended to strengthen and enhance cooperation between southern countries. But, it also has another component, which is to get almost equal billing.

He called this “triangular cooperation,“ which is the use of cooperation that exists between countries in the South and other developed country partners.

“I think it is safe to say that South-South cooperation was never intended to be a replacement but rather a complement to the existing triangular cooperation between the North and the South, he said.

Ashe did not elaborate SSC as a complement to South-North cooperation. The above-mentioned New Delhi conference, while sharing with the concept of complement, analyzed these two types of cooperation.

SSC represents a different paradigm from North-South cooperation, the conference report said. While NSC is seen as a historical responsibility, which should be continued and expanded further as a mechanism in its own, filling a specific niche, SSC should be viewed as a voluntary partnership, which has now developed into a more matured platform transcending the initial foundations of political solidarity. It should not be a substitute but complement to traditional development wherever possible. SSC has been built on robust foundations, including its demand-driven approach; non-conditionality, respect for national sovereignty, national ownership and independence and above all, mutual benefit. Some of these elements are captured in the Nairobi Outcome Document adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2010.

SSC shows great potential and bright prospects, but it still faces many difficulties and hurdles. Ashe said trade barrier was a major challenge.

“The difficulty is in anything that involves trade, Ashe said, “there will always be barriers because the member states of the WTO will always be mindful that there are WTO rules.

Ashe said that the traditional SSC emphasized macro guiding principle of political and economic systems to solve common problems in developing countries. But the trade negotiations under the WTO system lay stress on each member’s key interest, which can even be measured by numbers. The difference increases the contradiction between the two frameworks.

In recent years, the global economic crisis has negative effects on SSC. An immediate result would be cut of assistance from developed countries in South-North-South, also known as triangular cooperation, which is a form of cooperation in which traditional and emerging donor countries facilitating South-South initiatives through the provision of funding, training and technical know-how to developing countries. But the financial crisis also brought hopes to a certain southern countries to some developing states extent: some were not severely hit by economic crisis, they can share crisis resolution with their partners.

Emerging economies are the major driving forces

When talking about the trends of SSC, Ashe said economic cooperation among developing countries will deepen as cooperation areas further expand, and technical cooperation among developing countries flourishes as a result of rapid progress in science and technology.

Furthermore, emerging economies are the major driving forces behind SSC. “Countries such as Brazil, China, India and South Africa are playing more important roles in guiding and coordinating efforts in SSC, Ashe said. These countries possess both capacity and experience for SSC such as the formulation of national TCDC policies, well-established coordination centers, database and financial budget. They also have made clear political commitment to implement SSC programs in aiding, technical transfer, policy exchange and fund raising, etc.

Ashe pointed out that China, the world’s second largest economy, is active in the South-South cooperation. “China has always been a major player and it will continue to be one. I think it is going to be an integral actor in strengthening SSC. Ashe said.

In terms of his future work, Ashe said he would resign from the post of president of the High-Level Committee after assuming the presidency of the General Assembly. “It is not possible to wear both hats. he said. Ashe will bring discussion on SSC in the whole post-2015 development agenda. “I hope the Forum on South-South Cooperation for Sustainable Development will not only focus on what we can do within the framework of the committee, but also bring some discussions about the post-2015 development agenda, which will be formally proposed at the 68th General Assembly, he said.

Profile of John William Ashe

John William Ashe was born in St. John’s, Antigua. He holds a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. From 1989 to 1995, he worked for his country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations as Scientific Attaché, Counselor and Minister Counselor. Between 1995 and 2004, he was Antigua and Barbuda’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He served as Chairman of the thirteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, which met at United Nations Headquarters on 11–22 April 2005. He also led negotiations on budgetary and administrative matters within the Conventions on biological diversity and desertification, the Basel Convention, and the Montreal Protocol, and served on the Executive Boards of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). He will serve as president of the United Nations General Assembly at its 68th session.

Milestones for South-South cooperation within the UN system

The UN Economic and Social Council initiated the first technical aid programme.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was first created to provide a forum where the developing countries could discuss the issues relating to economic development. At the end of the conference, a group of 77 developing countries signed the “Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries creating the G77, the largest coalition of developing countries/Least Developed Countries at the UN system.

The General Assembly, in its resolution A/3251(XXIX), endorses “the establishment of a special unit within the United Nations Development Programme to promote technical cooperation among developing countries.

The UN Conference on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries was convened in Buenos Aires, adopting the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA) for Promoting and Implementing TCDC.

The Special Unit for TCDC has been renamed as the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, working as the focal point for SSC within the UN system.