Partners in Population and Development (PPD) observes United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation

PPD Secretariat, 12 September, 2015

“As we embark on efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we need to accelerate development momentum across the South, including by building resilience and mitigating risk.” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Message for the UN Day of South-South Cooperation

 

“South-South cooperation is needed for population and development on the principles of “equality, mutual benefits, practicality, long-term cooperation and common development”, and thereby endeavors towards better human well-being and a beautiful world of harmony and prosperity!” H.E. Dr. Li Bin , Chair, PPD Board and Honorable Minister, National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), Government of the People’s Republic of China at the 42nd Session of the UN Commission on Population and Development

 

Exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between developing countries, also known as countries of the global South is obvious in 21st century. The wide-ranging framework of South-South Cooperation is for collaboration among sovereign countries of the South in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical domains. The cooperation may take place involving two or more developing countries; it can take place on a bilateral, regional, sub-regional or interregional basis.

Partners in Population and Development (PPD), the umbrella representation of more than 59%of the world population embodies South-South Cooperation (SSC) as their core strategy for promoting Population, Development and Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR). Perhaps, PPD is the only inter-governmental entity mandated through an inter-governmental charter promoting ‘population diplomacy’ through South-South collaboration.

Global west is facing the challenges of ageing, in the contrary global south is struggling for the adequate investment for young and adolescent who are capturing almost half of the population pyramid within near future. The immediate and the distance variables of population and their development are reliant on some country specific intermediate influence. The framework of SSC could play a pivotal role in those intermediate influences.

Developing countries have the primary responsibility for promoting and implementing South-South Cooperation, not as a substitute for, but rather as a complement to North-South cooperation. Under the umbrella of PPD, 26 developing countries are exercising SSC since 1995 for bringing positive change of people’s life in terms of SRHR and development of women and children.

To address the poverty challenges the leaders of the global community signing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in next September in 70^th UN assembly. The Goal 17 is about strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development where SSC fits and PPD as an intergovernmental entity will promote the cooperation across the member countries to achieve the realistic goal from SDG17.

To mark the importance of South-South Cooperation, the General Assembly decided to observe this Day on 12 September every year, commemorating the adoption in 1978 of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries. PPD will observe the day with the 59% of the world population is a befitting manner and would like to congratulate the global south for their amazing partnership for bringing positive change in the life of the people of developing countries.