Purpose of the guidelines
These guidelines are a first step to support UNDP staff in delivering UNDP’s renewed offer on South-South and Triangular Cooperation to our government counterparts. This type of support is recommended in UNDP’s Strategic Plan and UNDP’s South-South Corporate Strategy. The guidelines cover key technical steps to consider when developing and implementing national South-South Cooperation (SSC) policies, which can lead to the establishment of the broader national SSC institutional and policy architecture, as recommended in BAPA+40 outcome document. These guidelines are not intended to be definitive, but rather to be flexible, adaptable to national priorities and understandings and non-linear. They are intended to support countries that wish to become active partners of SSC and build on the momentum generated by BAPA+40. They are focused primarily on technical SSC rather than economic cooperation or trade.
Rationale and Scope of The Guidelines
"South-South Cooperation (SSC) is a form of development cooperation between developing countries and based on principles of solidarity, equality, sovereignty, national ownership and non-conditionality."
In the past few decades, SSC has risen exponentially, with many developing countries graduating from recipients of development cooperation to providers. SSC is seen as a valuable complement to traditional North-South Cooperation.
At a global level, SSC is now believed to be a critical means of achieving the Global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda cites Goal 17 as “Partnerships for achieving the goals”, including a focus on SSC and Triangular Cooperation (TrC), which involves a third partner from a northern country. Goal 17 specifically speaks to strengthening global solidarity through mutually beneficial partnerships, including using SSC/TrC to enhance capacity building and the transfer of technologies.2
The United Nations (UN) has recognized the potential of SSC in contributing to the 2030 Agenda and 23 UN entities have already integrated SSC into their strategies and monitoring frameworks from 2018 – 2021 period.3 UNDP hosts the United Nations Office of South-South Cooperation
(UNOSSC) under the oversight of the UNDP Executive Board. UNOSSC promotes SSC and TrC on a global UN and system-wide basis, while UNDP serves as an integrator, offering its technical expertise to the wider development system.4 UNDP Strategic Plan (2018 – 2021) sees SSC/TrC as a key driver of the 2030 Agenda and aims to support SSC/ TrC through with its network of country offices in over 170 countries, which can act as drivers, connectors, knowledge hubs and centres of excellence.5
These guidelines are targeting UNDP CO staff to support their capacities and guide them in implementing UNDP’s renewed offer for SSC in order to ensure that UNDP support to SSC/TrC is systematic, targeted and effective. The ultimately goal is to support national governments in building the institutional framework for SSC/TrC, starting by the policy and institutional development needed to create the enabling environment for SSC within government structures. The underlying message is that UNDP is supporting countries in the transformational development cooperation agenda where the southern partners are development leaders to implement the Sustainable Development Goals nationally, regionally, and globally.
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