Celebration of South-South Day and 15th Anniversary of PPD
19 December 2009, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Address by
Mr. Harry S. Jooseery
Partners in Population and Development (PPD)

Distinguished guests, I am very encouraged to see so many of you here today, investing time and effort to learn more about us. It is a great honor for me to address you at this particular event, which celebrates the 15th anniversary of Partners in Population and Development – an intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations – and the 6th anniversary of the South-South Day. I thank you all for being present with us to celebrate South-South Cooperation, with the hope that this day will continue reminding us every year of the critical role and contribution of partnerships in general and among the developing countries, in particular.

No one can dispute the importance of this very important event, which we are commemorating today. On this very day, the landmark United Nations Conference in Buenos Aires held in 1978 adopted what came to be known as the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA). That plan of action provided a road map and laid the foundation for promoting and implementing technical cooperation among developing countries. Since that time, the South-South portfolio of co-operation for development has expanded enormously. It is playing, and will continue to play, a very significant role in supporting developing countries to meet not only their own but also the internationally agreed development goals.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the concept of South South Cooperation is deceptively simple: share and exchange ideas that have worked, between developing countries or also known as countries of the Global South - so that more people benefit. Today, the importance of South-South Cooperation has increased, qualifying these countries - especially in light of their economic weight - to play an effective role and become a full partner in the international economic system. The countries of the South, of course, vary in size, in natural resource endowment, in the structure of their population, as well as in the level of economic, social and technological development. Nonetheless, the primary bond that links the countries and people of the South is their desire to close the gap with the North through rapid human development and economic growth. I think this remains the aspiration of all countries of the South, to have a world that is much more unified than it is today.

As we mark today the Sixth anniversary of the South-South Cooperation day, we should celebrate the dramatic economic, social and political energy the South is increasingly demonstrating and which is changing the very nature of the international community. Developing countries are now the largest contributors to global growth. In 2007, total outgoing flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) from developing nations hit a record $253 billion, constituting about one eighth of the world total. The South is capturing ever larger shares of global trade and capital flows, becoming not only a destination, but a source of global finance, skills, and technology.

While this performance has been truly impressive, it has unfortunately been driven in large part by the remarkable economic performance of a few large and robust economies. Many developing countries are being left behind while others enjoy the benefits of global integration. While some countries have made remarkable progress in eliminating extreme poverty, progress towards the Millennium Development Goals remains uneven, the gap between the world’s richest and poorest countries continues to widen, and many developing countries struggle to advance socially and economically.

No economic progress is possible unless we address the burning issue of Reproductive Health, most particularly maternal and child health and the quality of life of the population. Hence besides addressing the economic imperatives of South South Cooperation, we need also to acknowledge the need to invest in Reproductive Health, Maternal and Child Health to enhance the quality of life of the population which remains a prerequisite for sustainable growth and development.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the International Conference on Population and Development, held 15 years ago in Cairo, was a breakthrough in the way we collectively understood the relationship between people and economic development, and it ushered in a revolution in our attitudes towards reproductive health and human rights. This understanding heavily informed the Millennium Development Goals, whose tenth anniversary we will be celebrating next year. ICPD bolstered the promotion of South-South Cooperation and indeed the attainment of the MDGs would be jeopardized without partnership and coalition building.

I am indeed proud to head a unique intergovernmental organization which is a Permanent Observer to the United Nations and which is mandated to promote South-South Cooperation in the field of Reproductive Health, Population and Development - ‘Partners in Population and Development (PPD)’ has been striving to promote and produce concrete substance to the spirit and principles of South-South Cooperation in population and development since 1994. We were established during the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and our membership now represents more than 57 per cent of the world population. We are committed to implementing the goals and objectives of the ICPD Program of Action, as well as the related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Our board members are Ministers of Health and Population of 25 Developing nations. We now have offices in New York, China, Bangladesh, and Uganda.

Fifteen years have passed since PPD’s inception. In the intervening years, PPD has had many significant successes. Under the guidance of its board, PPD has developed a detailed strategic plan and carefully monitors its implementation. PPD is a valued contributor to many important and diverse initiatives ranging from the Supplies Coalition to the Maputo Plan of Action and Kampala Declaration. Some of the Member Countries have set up excellent FPRH training centers that have benefited large numbers of professionals from the other member states. There have been many instances of longer term technical collaborations among the Member Countries. The secretariat has set up an excellent website and has made good progress in using information technology to strengthen South-South collaboration. Membership has grown and includes a diverse array of countries that are united by their commitment to improving FPRH through the goals of PPD. There is a great deal of interaction among the member states particularly at the regional or sub-regional level. Good quality and accessible FPRH is still not a reality for hundreds of millions of women and men in the developing world. It is true today, just as it was 15 years ago that, profound FPRH expertise is available in the South and PPD’s ability to harness and build upon this has the potential to improve the lives of many of the world’s most vulnerable citizens. South-South collaboration provides one of the most effective ways to improve FPRH and PPD is ideally placed to lead the way.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the most important ICPD goal in the area of global public health is the goal of ensuring universal access to and availability of reproductive health, including family planning, by 2015. This was included as one of the two targets under MDG 5 on maternal health by heads of state and government gathered at the United Nations for the Millennium+5 Summit in 2005. We strongly believe that the urgent implementation of this target, along with other targets under MDGs 4, 5 and 6, all of which are related to global public health, are pivotal to the reduction of maternal mortality, achieving poverty reduction and registering progress towards sustainable economic development.

But the world has lost a ‘sense of crisis or urgency’ with regard to reproductive health and this translates itself into lower funding for such programmes. This is very true. It is noted, with concern, that Reproductive health and most particularly family planning is losing its centrality in terms of budgetary allocations as well as its place in poverty reduction strategies and in population and reproductive health policies and programs. We therefore underline the need to reposition family planning as a priority in development. The fact that resource allocation to family planning in international population assistance has come down from 55 per cent in 1995 to less that 5 per cent today, means that countries are not giving sufficient priority to reproductive health and maternal health.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let us think of this analogy. When one airplane crashes killing those who are on it, the event makes media headlines, but when half a million women die every year from preventable causes, no one hears about it. It gets very little attention in the media. We will know that the sense of urgency has returned when international, regional and national media will scream at us as they will announce: “It is a crime in the 21st century that one woman dies every

minute of the day—that means 60 women in one hour and 1,440 women in one day; it is a crime when women are battered by their own relatives and it is a crime when women are the poorest of the poor; it is a crime when women are sold in slavery by traffickers at a time when declarations are filled with human rights slogans; it is a crime when nations spend more on producing armaments than on their commitment to achieve the MDGs and when nations spend more on buying arm than their investment in education, health, housing and meeting the other needs of their people.” Creating this sense of urgency can certainly be one of the focal roles of any South-South partnership as well as PPD.

The South is already showing the way. Through individual entrepreneurs, government leaders, and businesses, developing countries are creating innovative methods to enhance development and address global challenges. Noble winner Mohammed Yunus has helped to alleviate poverty in Bangladesh by promoting micro-credit lending for the poor. In Africa, businessman Mo Ibrahim has committed to establishing an organization that monitors good governance in Africa.

Bangladesh Family Planning Program has made remarkable progress over the last thirty years due to continuous political commitment, innovative program approach, government and non-government collaboration, strong IEC program, method-mix cafeteria approach and commitment of the field-level functionaries. Bangladesh is considered as a family planning success story. The national TFR fell from 6.3 in 1975 to 2.6 now. The contraceptive prevalence has been raised six folds from 8% in the mid seventies to 56% at present. Bangladesh played an extremely important role in the formulation of International Conference on Population and Development ’94 (ICPD’94) Program of Action. Over the last ten years following the ICPD, Bangladesh has achieved commendable success in improving the reproductive health status of the people. Reproductive health including family planning services is accessible to the population.

PPD is very much honored by the support and assistance Bangladesh Government has shown to us since the day it officially started its journey. PPD is also proud to be a part of the capacity building process of 300 professionals in Bangladesh working in Maternal and Child Health, Family Planning and Reproductive Health sector in different times by different means. Through PPD the Government of China has contributed reproductive health commodities, technical services in several occasions and also will be donating half a million dollars and expertise to build a model reproductive health care service center. PPD is also proud to be presenting Bangladesh, holding place as one of the selected countries in the Best Practices Monograph PPD is producing and disseminating among stakeholders around the world.

While these successes should be celebrated, there is always more that can be done. Countries in the South employ successful strategies to combat diseases such as HIV/AIDS by making locally manufactured medicines available at low-cost to other low-income countries. This type of South-South cooperation presents an opportunity for other Southern governments and pharmaceutical

companies to learn and adapt these policies to other countries in the South. We must take advantage of existing initiatives and resources, as well as new innovations, to open new opportunities for South-South cooperation. This requires us to expand the scope of South-South cooperation to include areas outside the traditional development domain, such as South-South preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution. It is clear that there is no lack of ideas, resources or know-how to meet the development challenges that lie ahead. What is needed are stronger commitments to capitalize on existing innovations, facilitate networks of knowledge sharing and establish funding mechanisms that would help to encourage nascent and innovative programmes to reach their full potential.

Ladies and Gentlemen, many of the challenges we face now are global, and therefore require global collective action. South and North alike face multiple crises. Hunger afflicts one billion people -- an unprecedented number. Unemployment is up and trade is down as a result of the economic crisis. Therefore, while bilateral and regional South-South cooperation is important and continues to grow, there is great need to reinvigorate multilateral forms of South-South collaboration in order to effectively address transnational challenges such as climate change. As this year’s UN Human Development Report demonstrates so compellingly, many developing countries will suffer from the consequences of climate change more intensely and rapidly, meaning real progress in human development could stall, or worse, reverse entirely. This could encourage divergence in the global economy – and there is very little that developing countries can do on their own both to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Solutions to these and other ills require stronger cooperation, starting with one's immediate neighbors.

In this regard, Partners in Popualtion and Development - with its presence in 25 countries - is committed to foster broad partnerships involving government, the private sector and civil society. We must also open the traditional South-South agenda to partners in the North and the multilateral system through these mutually beneficial triangular arrangements. To this end, we need the support of the world community including our members in order for this concept to truly make an impact and contribute to inclusive and equitable globalization.

The media also has a major role to play in shaping, facilitating and promoting South-South cooperation by highlighting not only the development challenges of the south, but also the wealth of solutions that exist among fellow developing countries. The basic communication infrastructure is now available in most countries of the South. There are, therefore, great opportunities to establish networks at the working and systems levels for direct linkages. These should be encouraged and facilitated both by Governments and the private media establishments of the South. In all its forms, the media is a very powerful tool, especially in this era of globalisation that can purposefully help in finding answers to the world’s most pressing developing challenges.

Ladies and Gentlemen, It is clear that the challenge the South now faces is to use its solidarity and combined resources and influence to build more just and secure societies for their people in an increasingly integrated and interdependent world. Today, on the 6th anniversary of the South South day, once again PPD reaffirms its commitment to support South-South Cooperation which has an essential role to play in helping create this new world, and helping developing countries work together to find solutions to common development challenges, as well as build on shared strengths.

With many thanks for your commitment and attention, best wishes to all for the holiday season.

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