From June 4 to 6, 2024, Doha, Qatar, hosted the Interregional Expert Meeting on Measuring South-South Cooperation. This event was organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), in collaboration with the United Nations Regional Commissions along with other strategic partners.
The expert meeting aimed to foster dialogue and empower Southern countries to collect and report their own data from national systems. This effort is expected to help guide national political action and strengthen the strategic management of development support in the global South.
United Nations Development Account Project
This meeting is part of the activities of the United Nations Development Account project on Quantifying South-South Cooperation to Mobilize Funds for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNCTAD, the United Nations Statistics Division and four United Nations Regional Commissions, together with partners from the United Nations system and beyond, will support developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to measure the modalities financial and non-financial South-South cooperation (CSS) to inform and guide political action with the objective of managing and mobilizing resources for efforts to achieve the SDGs. In principle, the pilot beneficiary countries of the project are: Ecuador, Jordan, Qatar, Malaysia, Namibia, Nigeria and Peru. All of these countries are expected to collect data on CSS within the voluntary global Conceptual Framework, prepare initial estimates of CSS and test the methodology for SDG indicator 17.3.1. The results will be compared with existing data on SSC or Official Development Assistance (ODA) where available. This will provide a clearer picture of the type and magnitude of CSS in each country.
The launch of the Project was carried out at the first meeting of experts held in Brasilia in July 2023, which also discussed the implementation of the global and voluntary Framework to measure South-South Cooperation, developed through a joint effort of the countries of the Global South. In Qatar it was presented improved in the form of a Manual which will provide step-by-step guidance for countries to complete the Framework with their respective data.
– Interregional Expert Meeting
A preparatory meeting of experts was held on the morning of June 4, 2024, involving pioneer and pilot countries, together with project partners, to advance the methodological and data collection work as a follow-up to the Brasilia meeting. . In addition, materials, such as the Framework Handbook, were finalized to share with a broader group of countries and guide future data reporting on SDG indicator 17.3.1.
The main meetings began on the afternoon of June 4 with a high-level event to address strategic issues related to South-South cooperation. The importance of this cooperation in accelerating progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the role of data in research, development and related policies were discussed. The high-level segment aimed to agree a way forward to enhance the voice of the global South in development finance debates.
– Technical Skills Development Workshop
A technical capacity development workshop was held on June 5 and 6, 2024 to guide Southern countries in the implementation of the Framework and its Manual, with the aim of training national authorities to collect and analyze data on South-South cooperation. This will enable reporting of country-specific data to the SDG indicator on development support.
In this second Interregional Expert Meeting on Measuring South-South Cooperation National, regional and international experts in SSC and its measurement participated, from development cooperation agencies, statistical offices and ministries of 72 United Nations member states. The call represented a significant step towards improving SSC through accurate quantification and mobilization of funds for the SDGs, highlighting the importance of leadership and collaboration between countries in the global South.
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