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SOUTH-SOUTHin ActionSummer 2010

¿O lai tu ke gestiondezas o riesgo delclima sou zile motu?(How do you manage disasterand climate risk on your island?)

See Story on Page 8

w w w . m e d i a g l o b a l . o r g

A MediaGlobal Publication

In this Issue:2 UNDP and South South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Sharing Knowledge and

Achieving the MDGs, One Country at a Time3 Where Can We Add Value? Developing Capacities for South South Cooperation4 UNDP Supports Transfer of Supplier Development Program from Mexico to El Salvador5 Exchanges on Value Chain Policy Making between Mexico, China, Malaysia and South Korea6 Advancing MDG 8: Through Subnational Strategies for Local and International Cooperation7 Brazil and the Dominican Republic Join Forces on Local Development8 ¿O lai tu kê gestion dezas o riesgo del clima sou zile motu?

10 The Bogota Process: Showcasing the Strength and Effectiveness of South-South Cooperation11 SOUTH-SOUTH SOLUTIONS: Stories from the field

2 South-South in Action

By Heraldo Muñoz, Director, RegionalBureau for Latin America and theCaribbean, UNDP

South-South Cooperation is not new to LatinAmerica and the Caribbean (LAC), andLatin American and the Caribbean countries

are not new to South-South Cooperation. AlthoughThailand was among the first countries to engagein SSC in the 1950s, countries in our region havetaken on this modality for several decades, perhapsmore intensely than any other region. Even beforethe First UN Conference on South-SouthCooperation, held in Buenos Aires in 1978,Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba and other countrieshad been engaging in technical cooperation withother less-developed countries, emphasizing theneed for solidarity among nations in the region.Today, perhaps more than ever, SSC is back at thecentre of development discussions, and the regioncontinues to provide useful experiences, goodpractices and lessons learnt.

Thus, it is a privilege for UNDP’s RegionalBureau for Latin America and the Caribbean toserve as guest editors for the Summer Edition ofSouth-South in Action. This edition shares severalinitiatives undertaken both in the region and incollaboration with other regions, such as theCaribbean-Pacific Cooperation on Mitigation ofNatural Disasters. While UNDP facilitates andsupports many SSC processes in the region, andsome of them are included here, there are manyother important actors engaged in similarinitiatives. The case stories that were presented atthe High Level Event on Capacity Development

and South-South Cooperation in March 2010demonstrate this diversity of actors.

UNDP engages stakeholders and facilitates SSC,maps supply and demand and develops toolswhich can support South-South Solutions acrossdifferent sectors. UNDP also plays an importantrole in supporting Agencies for InternationalCooperation, and has, over the last year, supportedcountries like Brazil, Colombia and Panama in thisregard. In July 2010, UNDP signed a strategicpartnership agreement with Brazil which hasSouth-South Cooperation as a focus. The year2010 also saw the birth of a new regionalCommunity of Practice (COP) on South-SouthCooperation for Latin America and the Caribbean,a network of practitioners and experts beyondUNDP and the UN includes consultants, civilsociety, private sector and Governments.

The COP also reminds us of UNDP’s fundamentalrole in knowledge management and in identifying,systematizing and sharing best practices in SSC.This will be a continued focus for our organizationwith an emphasis on activities in which we have acomparative advantage. A recent Community ofPractice meeting highlighted the need to increaseour efforts in systematizing good practices foradaptation and replication, both within the regionand beyond. It also shows the importance ofworking with all UN actors engaged with SSC.

UNDP has a key mandate in developing capacitiesand will continue doing so in and for SSC, as well.It is, therefore, no coincidence that UNDP’sregional SSC programme has been placed with ourregional Capacity Development team at UNDP’sRegional Centre in Panama. We are convinced thatsustainable South-South solutions can only bedeveloped and maintained in time throughconcrete measures to strengthen the institutionsthat engage in these exchanges.

What is UNDP trying to achieve through itssupport to SSC in Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Colombia,Mexico, Venezuela and other countries in theregion? Considering both the recent financial crisis

and the MDG Review Summit held in September2010 in New York, we are reminded that povertyand inequality reduction are at the very center ofwhat UNDP is and should be doing. To achieve theMDGs and reduce poverty, particularly incountries affected by the financial crisis,investments are needed to create jobs. Private-public partnerships are key to generating andsustaining jobs over time. The Mexican experiencein supporting small and medium enterprises(SMEs) in adapting their processes and standardsto meet the demands of medium and largecompanies is but one example of how this can bedone. The Supplier Development Programmesupported by UNDP Mexico and described in thisedition of South-South in Action was so successfulthat El Salvador, Honduras and other countries inthe region requested support to carry out similarprocesses, and the initiative was even taken toAsia. This kind of South-South Cooperation trulybuilds on a complex multi-stakeholder context,where public policy meets private sector with acommon aim: to generate employment by learningfrom other experiences in the region. UNDP canplay and is playing a key role in facilitating theseprocesses through knowledge sharing, technicalassistance and policy advice. UNDP has alsoshown to be a reliable and impartial partner bothfor Government, the SMEs, civil society and theentire private sector.

UNDP will continue supporting strategic South-South Cooperation initiatives in Latin America andthe Caribbean, partnering up with important actorsand making a difference as we continue workingtowards the achievement of the MDGs. By sharingknowledge, building on good practices andensuring that useful experiences are adapted andreplicated elsewhere through effective South-South Cooperation, I am convinced we can helpachieve the MDGs in our region.

UNDP and South SouthCooperation in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean: Sharing Knowledge and Achieving the MDGs, One Country at a Time

SOUTH-SOUTHin ActionSummer 2010

¿o lai tu ke gestiondezas o riesgo delclima sou zile motu?

(How do you managedisaster and climaterisk on your island?)

See Story on Page 8

w w w . m e d i a g l o b a l . o r g

A MediaGlobal Publication

In this Issue:2 South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean3 Where can we add value? 4 UNDP Mexico Cooperates with UNDP Offices of China, Malaysia and South Korea on Policymaking

and Awareness5 UNDP Mexico Transfers Supplier Development Programme to UNDP El Salvador6 Advancing MDG 8: Through subnational strategies for local and international cooperation7 With UNDP support, Brazil, Dominican Republic sign agreement for development cooperation8 ¿o lai tu kê gestion dezas o riesgo del clima sou zile motu?

10 The Bogota Process: Showcasing the Strength and Effectiveness of South-South Cooperation11 SOUTH-SOUTH SOLUTIONS: Stories from the field

ON THE COVER...A group of women involvedin the “UNDP South-SouthCooperation between thePacific and Caribbean SIDS on Climate ChangeAdaptation and Disaster Risk Management” projectgathered together for tea.

Heraldo Muñoz, United Nations AssistantSecretary-General, Assistant Administrator ofthe United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) and Director for its Regional Bureaufor Latin America and the Caribbean

South-South in Action 3

Where Can We Add Value? DevelopingCapacities for South South CooperationBy Inés Brill, Capacity DevelopmentPractice Leader and Gert Danielsen, South-South Cooperation and Aid EffectivenessSpecialist, UNDP Regional Centre for LatinAmerica and the Caribbean

Since 2009, UNDP’s regional CapacityDevelopment team in Panama has beenimplementing the regional programme on

South-South Cooperation in Latin America andthe Caribbean. While it is a complex issue, South-South Cooperation (SSC) also provides an arrayof opportunities for the United Nations andUNDP, in particular, to support governments asthey continue engaging with each other and withcountries beyond the region in exchangingexperiences, enhancing knowledge and promotingdevelopment. In this broad and complex networkof actors, it is vital for UNDP to find its niche,identifying areas in which the organization cantruly make a difference, complementing the solidefforts made by other multilateral organisms,governments, civil society and other developmentpartners. In a strategic meeting held in Chile in2009, UNDP’s Resident Representatives from sixcountries and representatives from Headquartersand the Regional Centre shared experiences anddiscussed some of UNDP’s comparativeadvantages in South-South Cooperation.

At the meeting, and in later discussions,understanding that there are multiple actors withdifferent roles, key areas were highlighted forUNDP efforts in the region.

1. UNDP’s ability to use its global network toidentify both development needs and usefulpartners for South-South Cooperationexchanges and process.

2. UNDP’s role in helping to ensure that SSCprocesses are sustainable over time; supportingall governments involved by strengtheningtheir capacities to provide or receive andmanage, monitor and evaluate developmentcooperation, transferring knowledge.

3. From the Regional Centre, UNDP’s role inhelping coordinate SSC processes facilitated orsupported by UNDP or other UN agencies atthe country level.

4. UNDP’s comparative advantage in designingand developing tools for sustainable SSCprocesses, which are contextualized andadapted at the local level, including fast trackmechanisms.

5. UNDP’s efforts to support quality assurance ofSSC processes, particularly with regard tostrengthening capacities for the integration ofcomponents of monitoring and evaluation.

6. UNDP’s role as a broker between the manymultilateral organisms that support SSC tohelp ensure harmonization and coordinationefforts and provide integrated supportpackages for governments wishing to engagein SSC.

7. UNDP’s strength in operationalizing policiesand strategies on SSC, supporting UN andUNDP offices, as well as governments, in theactual transfer of knowledge, good practicesand experiences.

8. UNDP’s role in helping to systematize goodpractices and SSC experiences in order toallow for and promote their replication in othercountries and regions.

A red thread for all UNDP’s work is supportinggovernments in developing national capacities tocarry out their own development programmessustainably. In SSC, this entails making sure that a country providing development cooperation has solid mechanisms and processes for theelaboration of strategies and the successfulimplementation of these strategies through strong institutional frameworks or internationalcooperation agencies. It also means ensuring thatthe governments put in place robust programmeand project management processes that aresufficiently resourced—financially, technicallyand through knowledgeable personnel—andcapable of adapting to change.

Much work has been done by UNDP’s countryoffices and the UN’s country teams in the region,and any regional and global efforts need tounderpin and further strengthen that work. Thismeans that we need to remain relevant in aconstantly changing development cooperationenvironment. We need to be responsive to needsas they emerge and change over time, preparingtailored tools in order to respond to those needsand serving as a facilitator and a broker forcontinued engagement. We need to be selective,critical and self-conscious at all times as to ourrole, our niche and our added value in any SSCprocess.

As countries in the region move towardsachieving the Millennium Development Goals,the UN also has a key responsibility to ensure that development cooperation is effective,efficient and sustainable, continuously adhering to principles of development cooperationeffectiveness and results-based management. At the end of the day, the countries themselveswill determine our role and assess how useful we are as we support them in South-SouthCooperation and other development cooperationactivities. They own the process, and ourleadership is put to the test by how well we follow them, understanding their needs andproviding support need be. By supportinggovernments in developing their capacities foreffective South-South Cooperation in the regionand beyond, UNDP is slowly but surely gettingcloser to where we should be—in the background,adding value and knowledge to complexdevelopment processes.

Participants from the first meeting of the South South Cooperation Community of Practice in PanamaCity on September 29, 2010.


1 The methodology includes 6 steps: Promotion (2 months), Diagnosis (2 months) Interaction between Anchor and each supplier (1 month), Formulation of Agreed Plan forImprovement (2 months) Implementation of the Plan (3 months), Documentation for Replicability in Anchor’s additional SME Suppliers (1 month).

UNDP Supports Transfer of SupplierDevelopment Program from Mexico to El SalvadorBy Grisel Campuzano, Director,Competitiveness and ProductiveIntegration Program and Ricardo Basso,Senior Advisor on competitiveness andPrivate Sector Development, UNDP Mexico

In 1995, Mexico signed the North AmericanFree Trade Agreement, which freed theexchange of goods between it and the large

developed economies of the United States andCanada. Subsequently, Mexico received a largeinflux of foreign direct investment (FDI), aimedprimarily at manufacturing in the country forexport to the other two countries.

By the turn of the century, however, it wasperceived that while the incoming FDI creatednew manufacturing jobs, many small companieshad been displaced from the value chains theywere a part of prior to NAFTA. With them wentsome of the more sophisticated skills andprocesses that Mexico’s industry possessed. The country’s manufacturing now concentratedprimarily in the fabrication of standardcomponents and in the assembly of in bond goodsfor re-export. This assembly, known locally as“maquila,” created formal employment but failedto integrate other more sophisticated activities thatwould require higher skills and result in bettersalaries and working conditions. Moreover, mostjobs were created in the regions bordering theUnited States and some large cities, rather than the interior of the country, resulting in a regionalimbalance. Since Mexico’s comparative advantageseemed to be mostly the low cost of its labor force,some investment began to move to even lower costcountries after few years.

The ProgramThis situation led UNDP Mexico to consider amechanism that would help larger companies,called “anchors,” to utilize the available localsuppliers, mostly SMEs. The mechanism’s designreflected lessons from different successfulinternational experiences, including those byUNIDO and other supply promotion programmes,which were adapted for the Mexican context. By 2002, the Supplier Development Programmewas being tested in five large companies and theirvalue chains, and its methodology adjustedaccording to the results. In 2007, the Mexicangovernment adopted the program as public policy,

increasing its budget and expanding the number ofvalue chains assisted. By the beginning of 2010,the program was serving 56 value chains, headedby anchor companies such as Nestlé, Bosch,Bombardier, Walmart, Volkswagen, Bimbo andMetLife. In all of them, the SDP aimed to align the existing management practices of the suppliercompanies to the requirements of the anchorcompany, to help SMEs increase their volume ofsales, quality of products, reliability of deliveryand employment.

The program also facilitates large-small companyinteractions through a website portal where buyerand supplier companies can post respectively theirdemand and potential supply. Altogether, theprogram has benefited more than 4,500 firms.

The impact on employment can be substantial,depending on how labor intensive the value chainsare. At a minimum, the program helps preventunemployment that would occur if the nationalsupplier were replaced by a foreign supplier, achallenge not uncommon in Mexico’s industry.

The Program’s methodology includesapproximately one year of work in each valuechain and can be adapted to higher tech sectorssuch as car manufacturing, or to lower tech sectorssuch as the processing of agricultural products.The SDP is supervised by a central monitoringteam of five people and is implemented byspecialists chosen from a body of 150 selected,trained and program-certified consultants.

An impact evaluation ordered by UNDP Mexicofound that 80% of the SMEs participating in theprogram had reduced their costs, 78% had increasedtheir efficiency, and 68% had decreased the numberof goods rejected by the anchor company on qualitygrounds. Importantly, 89% had initiated newsprocesses or products and 83% had found newclients beyond the anchor company.

In Mexico, the companies agree to pay 30% to50% of the cost of the technical assistance theyreceive. The remainder is covered by the federal or local (State) governments. In some cases thelarger companies fund part of the cost that wouldotherwise be covered by the local suppliers. Theanchor company identifies suppliers it wishes tostrengthen and commits not only its share of thecost but also management time and the time of itspurchasing department and technical experts. Themethodology also includes a complete assessment

of the way the purchasing department of the largecompany operates.

ReplicationIn 2009, the UNDP offices of Mexico and ElSalvador made an agreement to try the firstreplication of the SDP experience outside ofMexico. The agreement centered on building the capacities of El Salvador to start and run itsown SDP.

It included an assessment of the targetedproduction sectors in El Salvador, the transfer of the program’s methodology1 and a model for control and monitoring of the project. Theagreement also included components to help raiseawareness among business associations andgovernment counterparts; select the projectmanagement, with guidance on how to selectconsultants, train consultants, assist the integrationof the project’s Directive Council, train on projectpromotion, and coach the first implementation inSalvador’s value chains.

By the end of 2009 the one-year process oftransfer concluded successfully and its results were documented. The project had been presentedto stakeholders in the agribusiness, transport,tourism, software and other services sectors andhad been implemented in 10 agricultural farmerassociations (producing beans, rice and corn) andin 10 suppliers of shoe components, correspondingto the World Food Programme and Ramirezcompany, respectively.

A second group of consultants started its trainingfor certification in 2010. Large business chambers,such as CCIES, ASI and CAMAGRO, had beenpart of the program, which also engaged otherinternational organizations such as FAO, IADB-MIF. The MIF decided to help finance part of theprogram enlargement. The improved dialoguebetween buyer and its suppliers had turned newbusiness opportunities as early as in the first 15 days of initiated the program implementation.Another important result was the reaffirmation of aculture of paying at least a portion of the technicalassistance services among the small firms that arebenefited.

In 2010, UNDP Mexico signed an agreement for asimilar transfer of the program to Honduras, with alonger period of coaching and the implementationof a new version of its monitoring software.


Exchanges on Value Chain PolicyMaking between Mexico, China,Malaysia and South KoreaBy Grisel Campuzano, Director,Competitiveness and ProductiveIntegration Program and Ricardo Basso,Senior Advisor on competitiveness andPrivate Sector Development, UNDP Mexico

UNDP Mexico’s success with the SupplierDevelopment Programme (SDP) hasinspired a unique and beneficial

cooperation between Mexico and otherdeveloping countries, including China, Malaysiaand South Korea.

The Mexican Supplier Development Programmeinvolved establishing a mechanism that wouldhelp large companies in Mexico use localsupplier companies in the manufacturing sector.The goal was to reverse the impact that the 1995North American Free Trade Agreement had indisplacing many smaller companies from valuechains, in spite of the large influx of foreigndirect investment and new jobs that NAFTAcreated.

SDP was a highly successful initiative and began to be transferred to other countries in theregion, including El Salvador. But it also becameapparent that Mexico’s economy required notonly a program for direct assistance to valuechains, but a tool that would inject newperspectives in the country’s policymaking. The tool created was an Observatory ofCompetitiveness of Value Chains (OCAV),which benchmarks Mexico’s sectors againstthose in reference countries and enables theevaluation of existing policies and programswhose goal is to strengthen value chains.

The ActivityFrom the beginning, it was clear that the OCAVshould consider not only the policies that wereproposed in Mexico, but also those in othercountries, particularly the manufacturingpowerhouses of Southeast Asia and China. Tothis end, UNDP Mexico contacted the SouthSouth Cooperation Regional Unit (Asia-Pacific)of UNDP’s regional centre in Bangkok andproposed to participate jointly in an OECD-organized study tour of China’s institutions forthe technological upgrading of its value chains,and of the educational organizations thatcomplement this upgrading.

The activity made clear that the Chineseexperience was successful in terms of jobcreation, particularly with high-qualityemployment in more technologically advancedsectors. It was also apparent that China’sexperience followed to an extent those ofcountries in Southeast Asia, and that the latter’sexperience was far more comprehensive thanthose in Latin America, in terms of proportionalbudgets, depth of technological innovation, andsynergy with the education of human resources.

To underscore the idea that a fast-growing regionsuch as SE Asia employed a set of policies verydifferent from those typically employed in LatinAmerica, the Observatory decided to giveMexican policymakers firsthand experience with SE Asia and China’s industrial developmentpolicies. In 2008, UNDP Mexico requested theSouth South Cooperation Unit of UNDPBangkok to organize a study tour of threecountries of different levels of development—China, Malaysia and South Korea.

With the assistance of UNDP country offices inthe three countries, the study tour took place in2009 for a group of Mexican policymakers,including members of academia, the MexicanParliament’s Competitiveness Committee, thetechnology/scientific sector, and the UN’sEconomic Commission for Latin America(ECLAC).

The tour included visits to specific institutionsinvolved in planning innovation promotionpolicies in each country, technologicaldevelopment centres, and educational institutions

directly related to developing skilled workers toshape each sector. UNDP country offices helpedto identify, contact and brief the differentinstitutions in the three countries on the goals of the mission. The Resident Representative ofUNDP in Malaysia gave an ad hoc conference on the specific subject of industrial developmentand education for the mission.

The tour created a new level of awarenessamong policymakers in Mexico, both in terms of the scale of policies and with regard to thetype of policies being implemented. Forinstance, economic development planning incollaboration with the private sector took placein Malaysia even before its independence. InSouth Korea, the institution that implementsvocational training depends directly on thecountry’s prime minister. In China, no advancedsector will be left out of research anddevelopment activities, as the country isdetermined to avoid the path of other developingnations that continue to base their economiesmostly on inexpensive assembly or export of raw materials. This new awareness facilitated the Observatory’s dialogue with the Mexicangovernment and the business sector, withpolicymakers in Parliament, and with policyresearch centers in academic institutions.

It also triggered a close form of ongoingcollaboration with ECLAC, which created anindustrial policy debate group. Specific resultstook the form of new projects between theObservatory and the government of Mexico at the national and subnational levels.

UNDP Mexico contacted the South South Cooperation Regional Unit (Asia-Pacific) of UNDP’s

regional centre in Bangkok and proposed toparticipate jointly in an OECD-organized study tour

of China’s institutions for the technologicalupgrading of its value chains, and of the educational

organizations that complement this upgrading.


Advancing MDG 8:Through Subnational Strategies for Localand International CooperationBy Borja Paladini Adell, UNDP Head ofField Office in Nariño, ART REDES Programand Lluis Castellar, Official ART REDESColombia

Despite the grave challenge of an armedconflict and severe humanitarian situation,the Colombian region of Nariño has

proven to be an advanced laboratory oftransformative peacebuilding practices and localinitiatives that have yielded progress towardachieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The Nariño Department is located in the southwest of Colombia and has an ethnically diversepopulation of 1.5 million inhabitants, includingnative communities, afro-descendants andpeasants. The Nariño Department, which has highlevels of poverty and exclusion along with a verylow capacity for public investment, is verygeostrategic. It is located at the crosspoint of theColombian Pacific biogeographic region, theAndean mountain range and the Amazon region.

With the help of several partners, UNDP Colombiahas been implementing the InternationalCooperation Strategy in Nariño. Partners of UNDPColombia include the Colombian Government, theUNDP ART Initiative, BCPR, SIDA, AECID, theCatalan Agency for Development Cooperation,and a wide set of local actors. Under the leadershipof the Nariño local government, more than 200local actors have been able to promote a dynamicprocess of local cooperation that is defining area-based, thematic, ethnic- and gender-sensitivehuman development, and peace-oriented agendas.

This process began in 2008 with the creation ofthe region’s mandatory development plan andstrategy for international cooperation. Workinggroups were established to coordinate between the strategy and the international actors. Thiscoordination process produced two key lessons.The first is that while local cooperation isimportant for active international cooperation, it is even more important for developing agendasand policies locally for human development andpeacebuilding. A second lesson is that localcooperation is an effective strategy for channelinginternational resources to Nariño, even in thecurrent state of the global economic crisis. Thecoordination process has also allowed localinstitutions to establish themselves as dynamicactors in the international cooperation arena,enabling the transfer of local knowledge and

technical assistance to other Colombian regions.The following example illustrates this idea.

Public Policy for Gender inNariño The Development Plan 2008-2011 and the local strategy for international cooperationacknowledged gender equality as one of the mainissues to advance in the local human developmentand peacebuilding agenda. Despite confronting adifficult scarcity of local economic resources forthese programs, the actors in Nariño understoodthat only by joining efforts and cooperating locallycould they make progress toward gender equity.For this reason, they opted for a slower but moresustainable and transformative approach, ratherthan formulating new projects.

First, an inter-institutional alliance was createdwith the participation of all interested actors,including international agencies in Nariño such asUNDP, UNIFEM, UNFPA, the IASC WorkingGroup for Gender, and other international actorsnot based in Nariño, such as the Catalancooperation. A participatory process was thendesigned to formulate the departmental publicpolicy for women and gender equality, including a common implementing framework for local and international actors.

Next, several instruments were created to facilitatethe direct participation of women in the process: a women’s school focusing on leadership andempowerment, where 1,700 women receivedformal degrees; a second school aimed atpromoting women’s direct participation indemocratic elections; and, a women’s network thatincludes subregional and departmental committeeswhere women can aggregate their strategic interestand directly advocate other stakeholders andparticipate in the public policy design process.

Finally, several key regional programs werecreated to implement the public policy, including a departmental strategy for prevention of andprotection against gender-based violence. Some of these programs and projects are in theimplementation phase, drawing on local, nationaland international resources, including resourcesfrom both bilateral and decentralized cooperation.

The Colombian Government, in collaboration withUNDP, presented the experience at the September2010 High-Level Plenary Meeting of the GeneralAssembly as a proven initiative that has advancedachievement of the MDGs and has enabled thetransfer of experience to other regions inColombia and internationally.

This example is just one of many initiativesimplemented in Nariño. Similar projects are beingpromoted in the region on issues such as youthinclusion, sustainable livelihoods, human rights,rights of victims, culture and communication,among others.

The overriding lesson of all the work promoted by UNDP Colombia in Nariño is that capacitydevelopment through local cooperation is adecisive factor for accessing national publicinvestments and resources from internationalcooperation, including decentralized cooperation.Even more crucial a lesson is that these localforms of cooperation can create local andterritorial agendas for peace and humandevelopment, which include the participation and empowerment of populations that havetraditionally been excluded. Both factors haveallowed the subnational promotion of the aideffectiveness agenda and have generated localincentives to explore new mechanism of nationaland international cooperation such us horizontalcooperation, SSC, and Col-Col cooperation.

Youth inclusion is one of the issues addressed in Nariño.

One of the many initiatives implemented inNariño focuses on culture.

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Brazil and the Dominican RepublicJoin Forces on Local Development

The goal of this agreement is to provide technicalinternational support from Brazil to theDominican Republic’s national priority initiativesof regional planning, launched in the NationalSystem of Public Investment and executed incoordination with the private sector, civil society,academia and non-governmental organizations(NGOs). The agreement will help to articulateinitiatives between local and national level togenerate local development and to transfersuccessful experiences in areas such as theenvironment, development of small and mediumenterprises, agriculture and territorial publicpolicy.

UNDP, MEPyD and CODESUL representatives at one of the preparatory meetings at the UNDP Country Office in the Dominican Republic.


According to the agreement, CODESUL andUNDP Dominican Republic, through its ART-GOLD Programme, will provide technical andlogistical assistance to the General Directorate for Territorial Planning and Development ofMEPYD. They will also implement strategies topromote local development and strengthen localcommunities in the Dominican Republic,particularly in the border region.

Valerie Julliand stressed that the signing of thisagreement constitutes a significant achievement,as it embodies the spirit of the United Nationsand seeks to strengthen the relationships betweendeveloping countries.

“The signing of this agreement represents theglobal world we live in,” Julliand said. “UNDPpromotes this new modality of South-SouthCooperation as an effective tool for capacitybuilding and for the sharing of successfulexperiences among countries with similarpriorities and characteristics especially in thecontext of integration of the Latin AmericanRegion.”

Mauricio Ramirez, Deputy ResidentRepresentative, and Rita Sciarra,Coordination and M&E Associate, UNDP Dominican Republic

On Thursday, September 9, 2010, theGovernments of Brazil and theDominican Republic, with the support

of the United Nations Development Program(UNDP), signed an agreement of tri-partitecooperation for the start-up of several initiativesin the areas of regional planning and localdevelopment.

The agreement was signed in the National Palace of the Dominican Republic by theMinister of Economics, Planning andDevelopment (MEPYD) of Dominican Republic,Temístocles Montás; the Secretary of theSouthern Development and Integration Council(CODESUL) of the Paraná State of Brazil,Santiago Gallo; the Chief-Secretary of theGovernment House of Paraná State, Ney Cardas;and the UNDP Resident Representative in theDominican Republic, Valerie Julliand.

“The signing of thisagreement represents

the global world we live in.”

–Valerie Julliand, UNDP Resident Representative in the

Dominican Republic


¿o lai tu kê gestion dezas o riesgodel clima sou zile motu?By Jacinda Fairholm, Program ManagerCRMI, Karen Bernard, Program Specialist,UNDP-Pacific Centre and ShobhanDecloitre, Communications Officer, UNDP-Pacific Centre

One would have to be familiar with at leastfive languages and multiple cultures tofully understand how to answer this

question: “How do you manage disaster andclimate risk on your island?”

But that is exactly what a UNDP project onSouth-South-Cooperation is working to do.Launched in the spring of 2010, the UNDPSouth-South Cooperation between the Pacificand Caribbean SIDS on Climate ChangeAdaptation and Disaster Risk Managementproject (2010-2012) brings together two diverseregions populated with a broad spectrum oflanguages and cultural groups, yet facing similarand identifiable threats common to small islanddeveloping states (SIDS).

With the greatest concentration of small islandstates in the world, both the Pacific and theCaribbean regions face common hazards thatcould cause serious damage and setbacks forhuman development: accelerating climatechange and increasing frequency and intensity of related disasters, such as tropical cyclones.Seismic risk is also a substantial concern in both regions, with an incidence of tsunamis, aswell as active above ground and underwatervolcanoes in several locations. Populations andkey infrastructure concentrated heavily in coastalzones are exposed to recurrent flooding and sealevel rise induced by climate change.

By facilitating south-south technologicalexchange and transfer of expertise, the projectaims to strengthen the safety and resilience ofSIDS communities against these hazards. UNDPPacific Centre coordinates the project withextensive support from the regional UNDPprogramme Caribbean Risk ManagementInitiative (CRMI). Regional partners who bring in national expertise are involved in theproject’s governance structure and lead theimplementation of various activities. Thesepartners include Caribbean Disaster andEmergency Management Agency (CDEMA),CARICOM Climate Change Centre (CCCCC),University of the West Indies (UWI), the PacificIslands Applied Geo-Science Commission(SOPAC), South Pacific Regional EnvironmentalProgramme (SPREP), Secretariat of the Pacific

Community (SPC) and University of the SouthPacific (USP). Project activities fall under threefocus areas: documentation and dissemination of best practices on integrated climate changeadaptation and disaster management specific to the SIDS context; transfer and exchange ofrelated technologies and methodologies; andmainstreaming of disaster risk management and climate change adaptation into nationaldevelopment planning.

SIDS countries, regional agencies, and localcommunities reflect a range of capacities andpractices for effective disaster prevention andmanagement, as well as for coping with andadapting to climate change. Some of thesetechniques are based on traditional practices,which have stood the test of time and proven tobe remarkably resilient. Other techniques usenew technologies suited for developing countrieswith SIDS characteristics and limited resources.There is great potential for exchange of ideas,experiences and best practices among SIDS inthe Pacific and the Caribbean.

To tap into this potential, the project has to date coordinated two exchanges highlightinginnovative risk management practices. In July, aPacific delegation traveled to the Caribbean to

study the practices of four island states. InJamaica, the Water Resource Authority led a tourof various points on Rio Cobre River, where arecently installed flood early warning system hashelped to cover an extensive flood plain on theoutskirts of Kingston. Of much interest to thedelegation was the dual nature of the system – itoperates both manually and automatically andrelies on trained community members to providea simple yet effective monitoring and warningsystem for the population downstream. Thequestion of how communications channels canremain open and operational 24 hours a dayprovoked good discussion, as representativesfrom Fiji weighed the value of such a system intheir territory, which has similargeomorphological characteristics and a severeflood experience in 2009.

Cuba was the next stop on the tour. With only 38 disaster-related deaths in the past decade, the Cuban Civil Defense is recognized for itscommitment to protecting the population. Its practices in evacuation, emergencycommunications, risk planning and simulationexercises define Cuba as a world leader indisaster management. This was evident in theday-long tour of the western province of Pinar

Colleagues from the Pacific observe bricks for disaster resistant housing in Cuba.

del Rio, which was hit by two consecutiveCategory 3 & 4 hurricanes (Ike and Gustav) inthe fall of 2008, causing $10 billion USD indamage, but no casualties. Key to this successhas been the municipal Risk ReductionManagement Centres, which comprehensivelymanage territorial risk information for planningand preparedness purposes. The Centres arelinked to early warning points in vulnerablecommunities, such as Bacunagua, a smallcommunity of 2,500 people. The Pacificdelegation met with the president of the DefenseZone and learned how this coordinationincreases information, orientation and riskreduction measures for the community. To learnmore about vulnerability reduction practices, the delegation traveled to Barbados to discussthe regional implementation of the HyogoFramework for Action with the CaribbeanDisaster Emergency Management Agency andcompleted the tour in St. Lucia, which sharedlessons learned in volcano monitoring.

In August, a Caribbean delegation arrived in Fijito take part in the annual meeting of the PacificPlatform for Disaster Risk Management. One ofthe lessons the delegation took away was thestrength of traditional practices in the PacificRegion. The Director of the Solomon IslandsNational Disaster Management Office, LotiYates, drew attention to the traditional copingpractices employed in some of the 900 islands in his country. In the month before hurricaneseason starts, Solomon Islanders gather staplefoods, such as cassava, breadfruit and taro,preserving and preparing them by burying themunderground, wrapped in thick layers of coconut

fronds, or tying them under the roof. Whenhurricanes strike, these remote communities areoften incommunicado and assistance takes daysor weeks to arrive. Stored food using traditionalmethods prevents food insecurity and highlightsself-reliance.

On a site visit, the women of the Naviti Islandcommunity, in Yasawas Island group in Fiji,shared with the Caribbean delegation howtraditional practices are now combined withcontemporary disaster planning techniques.When cyclones occur, they gather their fishingnets and shelve them high up in their homes,while men move their boats inland to themangroves to prevent damage. They also havedisaster committees and a written plan. Thecommunity recently ran a tsunami exercise drill;the school children practiced dropping theirbelongings and moving quickly up the

emergency route to a higher point on the hill. A member of the Caribbean delegation, NicoleWilliams of the International Federation of the Red Cross Caribbean Regional officecommented that “the achievement of the disasterplan is that the community sat down to talk aboutcyclones and disaster preparation and hasidentified ways to work together.”

Exchanges allow for more direct knowledge ofother techniques and approaches; they alsocreate the opportunity for concrete cooperativeactivity planning between new counterpartsacross regions. Ms. Netatua Pelesikoti of SouthPacific Regional Environment Programme(SPREP) remarked on the extensive capacity inthe Caribbean, suggesting: “Instead of alwayslooking north, we can also look across to theCaribbean for technical assistance.” Upcomingactivities under this south-south program willaddress the technology transfer component. A regional training in agro-meteorology isplanned for late 2010, to be led by world-renowned specialists based at Cuba’s NationalInstitute of Meteorology. This training will beprovided to Pacific island countries that rely onagriculture as one of their main economicsectors, such as Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, and PapuaNew Guinea. Plans are also underway, incoordination with SPREP, World MeteorologicalOrganization (WMO) and the Caribbean Instituteof Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), toconduct a training course for climate observersin early 2011, to benefit numerous Pacificcountries that have observers posted in distantlocations on tiny outer islands. ECLAC’s genderspecialist, Dr. Asha Kambon, will conduct agender impact analysis with Vanuatu’s nationalauthorities. SOPAC is leading a session at the 5th Caribbean Comprehensive DisasterManagement conference on community post-disaster socio-economic impact assessment.

Funding for the project budget is provided by UNDP’s Special Unit for South-SouthCooperation and by the UNDP-Japan PartnershipFund, with in-kind contributions from UNDPPacific Centre and the Caribbean RiskManagement Initiative.


A group of women involved in the “UNDP South-South Cooperation between the Pacific and Caribbean SIDS on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management” project gatheredtogether for tea.

SIDS countries, regional agencies, and local communities reflect a range of capacities and practices for effective disaster prevention

and management, as well as for coping with and adapting to climate change. Some of thesetechniques are based on traditional practices, which have stood the test of time and proven

to be remarkably resilient.


The Bogota Process: Showcasing the Strength andEffectiveness of South-South Cooperation

cooperation architecture.

The roots of the Bogotá process lie 8,200kilometers westward in Accra. Here, in Ghana’sbuzzing capital, a High-Level Forum (HLF) ofsome 1,800 representatives gathered in September2008 to endorse the Accra Agenda for Action(AAA), which reinforces the promise of betterquality in development cooperation, expressedthree years earlier in the Paris Declaration. Withleaders from dozens of low- and middle-incomecountries coordinating their priorities, the Accraforum turned out to be a real opportunity forhorizontal policymaking. As a result, the AAAreflects sensitive policy commitments in areassuch as the increased use of national budgets for channeling aid and the reduction ofconditionalities—along with a groundbreakingapproach to South-South cooperation as part of thedevelopment cooperation effectiveness agenda.

Not surprisingly, it was a member of the HLFdeveloping countries’ caucus who took up themandate to explore South-South cooperation fordevelopment cooperation effectiveness, enshrinedin Article 19 of the AAA. From late 2008, aninternational debate started to look into South-South cooperation as a way of fostering horizontalpartnerships and drawing on the full potential ofdeveloping countries, particularly middle-incomecountries, as both recipients and providers ofdevelopment cooperation. With the strong backing

Jaime Bermúdez (middle), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia and Francisco Santos (right), VicePresident of Colombia, address the audience at the High Level Event on Capacity Development andSouth-South Cooperation.

of countries and organizations represented in theWorking Party on Aid Effectiveness hosted at theOECD-DAC, Colombia proposed in March 2009the creation of a Southern-led task team, whichwas launched with amazing energy during a two-day, globally connected event in September 2009in Washington, DC. From that moment, the TaskTeam on South-South cooperation (TT-SSC), with strong leadership from countries such asBangladesh, Ecuador, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico,Peru, South Africa, and Thailand, was to ensurethat South-South cooperation and the effectivenessagenda would enrich and complement one another. This would be a natural outcome of theincreasingly proactive and innovative role inglobal policymaking being played by thedeveloping world, in particular, the smallerdevelopment actors.

After assessing the long history of South-Southcooperation and the complex evolution of the aideffectiveness agenda, the founding members of theTT-SSC quickly identified the recipe for success:Explore and analyze the practices and experiencesof South-South cooperation—in particular, South-South knowledge exchange. Focusing on aclear-cut niche—South-South technicalcooperation and capacity development—theywould draw on real-life practice to help informand ensure relevant and consistent policyrecommendations. Two milestones were alreadyvisible: The Bogotá High-Level Event on the very

By Enrique Maruri & Nils-Sjard Schulz

While the global economic recovery stillfollows an insecure path, deep changesin international relations and global

governance are underway, giving greater voice andinfluence to developing countries. In a multipolarworld of shifting wealth, this new inclusiveness,neatly reflected in the G20, can help harness thesolutions and models designed and proven indeveloping countries.

South-South knowledge exchange and mutuallearning are now at the forefront of globaldevelopment policies, as policymakers andpractitioners start to grasp the value of theincreasing diversity in development approaches.Middle-income countries, hand in hand with theirpeers in low-income countries, have much tocontribute in the world’s menu of manifoldknowledge and innovation poles. As a result,consistent recipes to pressing developmentchallenges can come from virtually everywhere.The era of Western monopoly of expertise andcapacities has come to an end, releasing newoxygen for an increasing demand from Southernactors. For one good reason: Complementing theclassic North-South flow, models from developingcountries tend to offer much-appreciatedadvantages such as adaptability, sustainability orefficiency. Emerging from the historic roots ofSouth-South cooperation, knowledge exchange is foremost a process that enables developingcountries to take advantage of skills generated bytheir peers in order to face similar challenges intheir own context.

And this was precisely the vision shared by morethan 500 enthusiastic delegates from around theworld during the High-Level Event on South-South Cooperation and Capacity Development,held in Bogotá last March. Their zeal for effectiveSouth-South knowledge exchange and mutuallearning left the participants with a long list ofideas, projects and plans, for their countries andregions, and for their multilateral, parliamentary,civil society, and research organizations. Agroundbreaking format, including “talk show”sessions, video broadcasting and case storypresentations, promoted lively discussions onSouth-South and triangular cooperation andresulted in the Bogotá Statement, a forward-looking manifesto for inclusive and effectivepolicymaking within the shifting development

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near horizon (in March 2010), which would be amid-term conference on the way to the High-LevelForum on Aid Effectiveness in Korea in late 2011.

Energized by the immediacy of the Bogotá HLE,the TT-SSC in November 2009 called for casestories about South-South knowledge exchange.These stories could cover three themes: Adaptingthe aid effectiveness principles to South-Southtechnical cooperation, enriching the Paris/Accraagenda with the practice of South-Southknowledge exchange, and identifyingcomplementarities between South-South andNorth-South cooperation. Partner countries inparticular, but also donors and nongovernmentalactors were invited to share their experiences. The TT-SSC members were explicit in their desire to explore what works and what doesn’t,and to classify and systematize the results.

The TT-SSC engaged with regional organizations,including the New Partnership for Africa’sDevelopment (NEPAD), the Asian DevelopmentBank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Organization of American States. At theglobal level, the World Bank Institute helpedconnect practitioners, and a global core team ofcommunication and policy advisors guided theprocess. This approach enabled practitionersaround the world to access just-in-time support,engage in peer networks, formulate regionalperspectives, and build an enabling environment tomake the best use of the limited time that many

leaders and champions in developing countriescould commit to new initiatives.

The response from countries and organizationssurpassed all expectations: 110 case stories werepresented in only nine weeks. The showcasedexperiences involved 133 countries from aroundthe world, as well as 10 multilateral organizations,four civil society organizations, and threeparliamentary bodies. Case story drafts werediscussed at meetings in Addis Ababa, Bogotá,Brussels, Mexico City, Pretoria, Seoul, andWashington, DC. Indeed, the Bogotá process is likely to be the broadest and most dynamicuniverse of country-led experiences ever collected.

The case story process also shows the immensepotential of engaging Southern practitioners and policymakers in global and regionaldecisionmaking. Experience sharing is a priorityfor many developing countries, and learning is apowerful, yet underexplored, tool for adapting theglobal development architecture to the shiftingpoles of wealth and development. With its highlyenergized plenary sessions and roundtablediscussions of the case stories, the Bogotá HLEwas an inspiring example of how results can beachieved under tight deadlines by drawing on thecommitment of a diverse group of championsfrom developing countries and multilateralinstitutions.

And yet, peers and partners have only started to

extend the Bogotá spirit, and much can beexpected in the coming months. At the launch ofits second phase work plan, the TT-SSC members,now representing more than 90 countries andorganizations (as of September 2010), have agreedto extend the analysis by preparing additional casestudies, with support by Southern academia. So, asyou read through this issue of South-South inAction, the practitioners and policymakers indozens of countries and organizations areconducting in-depth reviews of their experienceson South-South knowledge exchange, hand inhand with local and regional academic institutions.A community of more than 600 practitioners isalready engaging with the TT-SSC to ensure astrong practice-policy link. All of this will providemore good practices and policy guidance for theKorea HLF and beyond, including the emergingG20 development agenda and the policydiscussions at the United Nations DevelopmentCooperation Forum (DCF). Indeed, the time hascome for an ambitious and innovative developingworld to guide global policymakers toward a moreeffective system for governing development in amultipolar world.

Enrique Maruri is Head of the TechnicalSecretariat of the Task Team on South-Southcooperation (TT-SSC) and Nils-Sjard Schulz isPolicy Adviser to the TT-SSC, Associate Fellowwith FRIDE, and Associate Expert for UNDP inSouth-South Cooperation.

SOUTHSOUTH SOLUTIONS: Stories from the field

http://www.southsouth.info, where you can alsobecome a member of the growing TT-SSCcommunity of practitioners.

CASE 1: Honra e Respeito por Bel Air(Honor and Respect for Bel Air)

Organizations involved: NGO Viva Rio (Brazil),Canadian International Development Agency andNorwegian Church Aid, as well as the governmentsof Brazil, Canada, Haiti and Norway. This project isa triangular cooperation between DAC donors andSouthern partners.

The project, “Honor and Respect for Bel Air,” aims to reduce armed violence and promote urbanrehabilitation in the neighborhood of Bel Air inPort-au-Prince, Haiti. Leading the project isBrazilian NGO Viva Rio, which also enjoys supportfrom the Brazilian Embassy in Haiti, Canada,Norway and international organizations. Theinitiative focuses on guaranteeing security,promoting development and protecting human rightsfor Bel Air’s inhabitants. The areas of interventionare diverse, including water supply, solid wastemanagement and education. Activities are oftenassociated with peacekeeping purposes, womenempowerment and youth education.1

CASE 2: Small Tourism EnterpriseProgram (STEP) Program of theAmericas

Organizations involved: Executive Secretariat forIntegral Development; Department of EconomicDevelopment, Trade and Tourism; and Organizationof American States, as well as the governments ofAntigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica,Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Nevis & St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname,Trinidad & Tobago, Costa Rica, Guatemala,Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá, El Salvador, Bolivia,Chile, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.

The Small Tourism Enterprise Program (STEP) wasdesigned to enhance the competitiveness of smalltourism enterprises and hotels in Latin America andthe Caribbean. Many micro, small and mediumtourism enterprises in this region face challenges inrunning profitable business. The program sought toaddress these challenges by providing businessdevelopment training, promoting technologyadoption, creating mechanisms for joint promotion,facilitating communication and the sharing of bestpractices among the small tourism enterprises,beginning with small hotels of 75 rooms or less. Firstinitiated in the Caribbean, STEP was later replicated

The stories from the field are many, and muchSouth-South Cooperation (SSC) still needs tobe documented. Some promising new efforts

have been made to document, systematize and sharecase stories on SSC in Latin America and theCaribbean. The following excerpts are drawn fromcase stories gathered during one of these efforts to document scenarios of mutual learning andknowledge exchange. These initiatives arecoordinated by the Task Team on South-Southcooperation (TT-SSC) in the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness at the OECD-DAC.

In the first phase of the project, practitioners from allover the world drafted more than 110 case stories,which informed the Bogotá High-Level Event onSouth-South cooperation and Capacity Developmenton 24-25 March 2010. In its second stage leading tothe Korea High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness,the TT-SSC is continuing to collect case stories andwill deepen its analytical efforts on knowledgeexchange as a tool for horizontal partnership in achanging development cooperation architecture.These stories also demonstrate the diversity ofregional actors and sectors involved in SSC.

More information is available at

Compiled and edited by Gert Danielsen and Tuija Rytkönen, UNDP Regional Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean

Continued on page 121 Full Case Story: Honra e Respeito por Bel Air, Honor and Respect for Bel Air, available at:

http://www.impactalliance.org/ev_en.php?ID=49222_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC

MEDIAGLOBAL is an independent news service, based in theUnited Nations Secretariat, designed to create awareness in theglobal media for the countries of the global South, with a strongfocus on South-South Cooperation. The newsletter is publishedin cooperation with UNDP’s SpecialUnit for South-South Cooperation. Theopinions expressed in this publication donot necessarily reflect the editorial viewsof MediaGlobal or the officialposition of any of its sponsors. For information, contact us at:Telephone: 609.529.6129 Email: [email protected] Website: www.mediaglobal.org

Publisher and EditorNosh Nalavala

CoordinatorsTuija RytkönenGert Danielsen

UN CorrespondentsAmanda WheatSofia TilloCharissa Sparks

Project ManagerRogel Nuguid, Chief of Staff,Special Unit for South-South Cooperation

South-South Solutions...Continued from page 11

in Central and South America. The ultimate goal wasto generate new business and employmentopportunities within the sector, which struggles withlimited financial resources and ineffectual humancapacity. The program’s success can be accredited toparticipatory engagement by the Government andprivate sector, which were active collaborators inimplementation.2

CASE 3: “IADB – Coming together inthe Trifinio region of El Salvador,Guatemala and Honduras” and “FromTrifinio Plan to Trifinio Region, a caseof institutionalization of trans-bordercooperation”

Organizations involved: Forty-five municipalitiesfrom the three countries that make up the Trifinioregion’s Upper Lempa River Basic; the Plan TrifinioCommission; the three national governments throughtheir vice-presidential offices; the 13 NationalLeague of Municipalities (Mancomunidades); theTri-national Federation of Municipalities’ Leagues(Mancomunidad Trinacional); MunicipalEnvironmental Units; other national, departmental(state) and municipal education units, associations

and unions in theprivate sector, localNGOs and civilsociety.

The initiative“IADB – Comingtogether in theTrifinio region ofEl Salvador,Guatemala andHonduras” seeks to develop andpromote tri-nationalmechanisms for

integrated and sustainable water management as aregional public good in the Upper Lempa RiverBasin (ULRB). The project seeks to do this bypromoting strong horizontal cooperation among theparticipating countries: El Salvador, Guatemala and

Honduras. The projectinvolved threecomponents: thegeneration andmanagement ofinformation on waterresources, humanresource training inwater management, andtri-national institutionsfor water management.3

On the other hand, the project, “From Trifinio Planto Trifinio Region, a case of institutionalization oftrans-border cooperation,” also involved theTrifinio region. The South-South Cooperation amongthese three countries had already begun in 1988when, based on their experiences within theframework of the project Plan Trifinio, the threegovernments created an entity that redefined theborder region as an area of development andintegration. This project is profoundly country-drivenand has yielded successful solutions for social andenvironmental problems facing all three countries.4

CASE 4: PROCASUR: Learning Routes:Weaving together rural local talentfor a global south

Organizations involved:PROCASUR, IFAD andFoundation Ford, aswell as the governmentsof Bolivia, Peru,Ecuador, Chile,Colombia, Argentina,Brazil, Venezuela,Guatemala, Honduras,Nicaragua, El Salvador,México, Costa Rica,Malawi, Uganda,Rwanda, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania,Kenya, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

The general objective of the program is to helpimprove rural development projects in LatinAmerica. The program seeks to support ruralproducers in systematizing and disseminating theirexperiences and knowledge and becoming suppliersin the market of technical support services that are

needed by other development organizations andinitiatives. At the end of the program, a regionalsystem of Learning Routes will have beenestablished with the participation of multipleinstitutions, beneficiary organizations and projectsthat promote innovative local processes. This will beachieved by disseminating successful local ruraldevelopment cases that strengthen the developmentof knowledge in rural markets in Latin America.5

CASE 5: Supporting the AndeanCommunity in the Area of SyntheticDrugs (DROSICAN)

Organizations involved: National Illegal DrugTraffic Control Council (CONALTID) of Bolivia;Colombia’s National Narcotics Bureau (DNE);National Council on the Control of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (CONSEP) ofEcuador; Peru’s National Commission for Drug-FreeDevelopment and Living (DEVIDA); the AndeanCommunity (CAN); and the European Union.

This project’s objectives were to make it possibleto establish methods for preventing and controllingthe possible effects of synthetic drug supply anddemand. The means for reaching these objectives areto collect objective and comparable information thatwould help shape a joint vision, formulate publicpolicy and take coordinated action. Part of the projectinvolved designing and implementing an earlyintervention program for populations at risk; studyingsynthetic drug abuse among university populations ineach country and the sub-region as a whole; andcollecting successful practices for reducing syntheticdrug demand in the CAN member countries.

Within the project, the National Drugs Observatorieshave been strengthened and an Andean Observatoryhas been discussed to enhance planning and establishjoint methodologies and collective efforts at theregional level. The exchanges have made it possibleto create awareness and strengthen national andinstitutional capacities in drugs management. It hasalso enabled the various actors to respond jointly andto work in a coordinated manner toward internationalorganizations and fora. Concrete improvements havealso been observed in regional collaboration on theborders, enabling a joint response to the threats posedby the trafficking of illegal drugs.6

Institutionalizingtransborder cooperationin the Trifinio region of ElSalvador, Guatemala andHonduras.

Children benefited fromthe Trifenio SSC project.

Participants in thePROCASUR project.

2 Full Case Story: Small Tourism Enterprise Program (STEP) Program of the Americas available at: http://impactalliance.org/ev_en.php?ID=49411_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC

3 Cruz, Alejandro. “Case Study on Enhancement of Know-how and Institutional Capacity at Public Debt Management Agencies” and “Case Study on Promotion of the Management ofWater as a Regional Public Good in the Upper Lempa River Basin in the Trifinio Region”, in South-South Cooperation and Capacity Development in Action: Regional PublicEntrepreneurship in Latin America and the Caribbean. Laura Bocalandro and Rafael Villa, editors, Inter-American Development Bank, 2010.

4 Full Case Story: From Trifinio Plan to Trifinio Region, a case of trans-border cooperation institutionalization available athttp://www.impactalliance.org/ev_en.php?ID=49412_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC

5 Full Case Story: PROCASUR: Tomando Rutas de Aprendizaje: http://www.impactalliance.org/ev_en.php?ID=49478_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC

6 Full Case Story: DROSICAN – Apoyo a la Comunidad Andina en el Área de Drogas Sintéticas: http://www.impactalliance.org/ev_en.php?ID=49889_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC

GLOBAL SOUTHSOUTH DEVELOPMENT EXPO 2010With a motto of “Solutions, Solutions,Solutions!” the Global South-SouthDevelopment Expo (GSSD Expo) 2010, aUN system-wide forum developed by theSpecial Unit for South-South Cooperationto showcase successful Southerndevelopment solutions, will be hosted atthe headquarters of the InternationalLabour Organization on 22 – 26November 2010(www.southsouthexpo.org)

The GSSD Expo provides a forum fordeveloping countries and theirdevelopment partners to showcase theirevidence-based South-South developmentsolutions.

The GSSD Expo is not intended to be anannual conference or event espousing

discussion of issues, debates on ideas,insight forming or a presentation ofabstract scenarios and recommendationsfor solving them. Rather, the GSSD Expois designed solely to bring togetherdeveloping countries and theirdevelopment partners – including donors,organizations and specialized agencies ofthe United Nations system, the privatesector and the civil society organizations –to methodically and regularly share theirevidence-based development solutions tobenefit most specifically the leastdeveloped countries, landlocked countriesand the small islands developing states.

The GSSD Expo, built upon the premise ofa “triple win” situation for all stakeholders(solution seeker, solution provider and a

donor), aims to enable all partners tobenefit, and provides incentives for newand continuing partnerships.

The GSSD Expo 2010 will feature a wide-range of activities including a High-levelDirectors-General Meeting, a LeadershipRound Table and forum discussions on thethemes of Food Security, Climate Change,Global Health, HIV/AIDS, and SocialProtection. In addition, the Expo willfeature a South-South DevelopmentSolutions Exhibition, which will showcasesuccessful South-South and triangularpartnership solutions in each of thethematic areas. A broad spectrum ofinnovative and forward-thinking solutionswill be showcased from regions throughoutthe global South.

Voice of the Global SouthUnited Nation Secretariat, Suite S-301

New York, NY 10017

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