Collaboration among countries of the global south offers a “unique pathway” that accelerates us towards the key 2030 sustainable development targets, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, told a commemorative event for South-South Cooperation (SSC).
This year’s United Nations Day dedicated to the initiative is particularly significant, as it follows international commitments made at the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA+40) Second UN High-Level Conference in March, which coincided with the Plan’s 40th anniversary.
“The past decades have demonstrated the power of South-South cooperation to advance sustainable development. Driven by a spirit of solidarity, respect for national sovereignty and equal partnership, South-South cooperation has offered concrete solutions to shared development challenges,” Mr. Guterres said in his opening keynote address.
Partnerships among countries of the south has carved a path of progress in the developing world, with more children getting an education, child and maternal mortality rates “cut by nearly half,” and sharp reductions in extreme poverty, he added.
Despite progress, developments are “not fast enough to meet out 2030 goals,” Mr. Guterres warned, citing that 2.4 billion people, the majority living in the South, do not have adequate sanitation, while some 840 million are without electricity, and 885 million lack access to clean water.
“These are stark reminders that even as countries reap higher economic gains, we must work to ensure that prosperity is more broadly shared,” he urged.
The United Nations outlines South-South Cooperation objectives which include fostering self-reliance of developing countries, increasing the quantity and enhance the quality of international development and cooperation, strengthen technological capacities, and enabling developing countries to achieve a greater degree of international participation, among others.
Original source: UN News
Published on 12 September 2019
