Reaching a common understanding of South-South Cooperation

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Reaching a common understanding of South-South Cooperation

South-South Cooperation has been loosely defined as an exchange of expertise between governments, organizations and individuals in developing nations. This forum seeks to arrive at a more concrete definition; input will be added to wikipedia.

Members: 63
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Discussion Forum

Beyond South - South Co-Operation

Started by Dhruba P. Paudyal May 25, 2011. 0 Replies

South South Co-Operation is expected be a mission that brings policy experts, practitioners and evaluators together to cream out "what works" and "what does not" in developing economies and develop…Continue

Involving the individual

Started by Njaramba Gichuki. Last reply by Aaron Leonard Feb 12, 2010. 2 Replies

Though the south south co-operation is intended to be an exchange of expertise between governments, organizations and individuals, it is still only an exchange at governmental levels. A lot needs to…Continue

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Comment by Mar on November 10, 2011 at 7:17am

I have a look at the recently added “Good practices SSC” paper and I believe is a great framework to start working on. However regarding the balance on political and technical leadership (pag 4) I´d like to stress the key importance of the engagement from policymakers and public institutions and learn from current failures of international platforms (on climate change). Without a strong and clear sustainable development agenda from developing countries, hence a solid political will we could not success on this kind of initiatives and these two levels: policymakers & practitioners could easily be transforming in a real burden that creates a important slowdown on the process.

 

Comment by Mar on November 3, 2011 at 10:50am

More than “south-south opportunity”, I believe we´re facing the “south-south challenge” in the sense that under the current framework, relationships on development are based on a “north-south basis”. Developing countries depend and expects for learning and a general delivery form developed countries. Therefore, the truly challenge is a change of the current culture, where developed countries would change their role and instead of being a responsible actor of their development become a another partner, collaborating on their empowerment where south countries could share knowledge and experiences from their peers.

Comment by Martin CORREA on May 24, 2011 at 8:42am
Hello, I'm CORREA Martin, engineer in computer science and young entrepreneur. I live in Côte d'Ivoire.
I wish people will meet today in the same field of activity for exchange and sharing
Comment by Luara Lopes on June 7, 2010 at 4:16pm
Hi Aaron, and thank you for your comments!

I don't know if there is a "typical" role NGOs can play, but, as from my experience with SSC and NGOs, I believe they can be active partners in both donor and receiving countries (although this categories are not totally compatible with SSC).

In Brazil, especially since the late 1980's, NGOs have played an important role in many fields of national development, from chidrens' health to adult literacy.
Accordingly, they are also able to play an important role as partners in SSC projects and programs, in countries with similar problems.

On the other end, countries "receiving" SSC should, as often as possible, involve NGOs in their plans of action, so that beneficiaries are multifold and not restricted to governmental personnel. This allows for stronger sustainability and ownership, since activities are not subject to governmental instability.
Comment by Aaron Leonard on June 3, 2010 at 4:34pm
Interesting post, Laura. Could you share some specific examples that illustrate how Brazil does this? How are partner NGOs selected? From where? And what role do they typically play?
Comment by Luara Lopes on May 31, 2010 at 9:19am
In my opinion, the challenge of SSC projects and programs is not only engaging individuals who will learn from the partner cuntry, but also involving individuals willing to share this knowledge within his country or organisation. This is what makes Brazilian SSC so cost-effective: identifying local partners, influential enough to multiply the project´s capacity-building. While Brazilian SSC is certainly intergovernmental, it includes NGOs in cooperation arrangements, in order to increase local ownership and sustainability.
Comment by Iara Costa Leite on October 2, 2009 at 6:53am
Ok, thank you!
Comment by Steffen Soulejman Janus on October 1, 2009 at 9:40pm
One of the main objectives of the Task Team on SSC is to collect a body of evidence to identify good practice of SSC looking especially at SSC in the context of the aid effectiveness agenda. For now we will have to work on ideas of what SSC "should be", looking at the current implementation reality and emerging patterns in SSC.

Regarding reference materials please check back frequently as we will be building a library on the topic under 'resources'.
Comment by Iara Costa Leite on September 30, 2009 at 8:33am
Thank you, Steffen. So, I understand there is a consent that SSC refers to expertise exchange, which enhances / would enhance all parties' development, right? I just have a second question and I promise I'll be quiet for a while. About this consensual definition of SSC, is it about what SSC "is" or about what SSC "should be"? Is there extensive research showing this exchange or are we talking about expectations and a potential? Can you please send me some references? I'm really interested in getting familiar with them. I already have the survey Sheila mentioned, thank you Sheila, I'll read the document.
Comment by Steffen Soulejman Janus on September 29, 2009 at 9:28pm
Iara - These are interesting thoughts. There is undoubtedly a political dimension to SSC. I do believe however, that SSC and knowledge exchange between Southern partners has also great benefits for both sides from a pedagogic point of you. In a development context learning from peers who have faced similar challenges is most likely much more effective than learning from some northern countries which might deploy systems and institutional processes that are difficult to replicate in a low income country context.

Another dimension to SSC is the benefits of learning on the supply side. MICs sharing expertise with LICs can also greatly benefit from the exchange as well. Partnerships can be developed and fostered, ranging from continuous exchanges of knowledge and experiences to the implementation of economic programs.

I agree with your view that in order for SSC to be successful, both the demand and the supply side should view the cooperation as useful. A well-rounded SSC program will thus be designed in such a way that all partners benefit from the cooperation. This I would then call a successful 'exchange'.
 

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A GUIDE TO KS

The Art of Knowledge Exchange: A Results-Focused Planning Guide For Development Practitioners.

A step-by-step guide to designing effective knowledge exchange activities.

Download PDF (here)

SOUTH-SOUTH CASES

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Articulação SULSouth-South Cooperation Research and Policy Center in São Paulo, hosted by the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (Cebrap)

Development Policy Blog: Networking can promote knowledge exchange and cooperation on development. By: Maree Tait

IDB  Magazine - Regional Public Goods: An innovative approach to South-South Cooperation (English) (Español)

Using Knowledge Exchange for Capacity Development: What Works in Global Practice? KDI and The World Bank Institute

 

The Future of Development Aid, Comment by Sri Mulyani Indrawati managing director of the World Bank Group 

 

Increasing the impact of EU Development Policy: an Agenda for Change

 

Join the Bellagio Initiative in rethinking the framework for philanthropy and development in the 21st century.

The Evaluation of the Paris Declaration Phase 2. Executive Summary

Visit the Task Team on South-South Cooperation website


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