South-South cooperation is recognized as an increasingly important complement to North-South cooperation in financing for development and is central to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Triangular cooperation, on the other hand, is generally understood as partnerships between two or more developing countries, supported by a developed country or multilateral organization.
The Addis Agenda specifically:
- Encourages developing countries to voluntarily step up their efforts to strengthen South-South cooperation.
- Commits to strengthen triangular cooperation.
Latest developments
In March 2019, the second high-level United Nations conference on South-South cooperation (BAPA+40) highlighted the evolution of South-South cooperation (SSC) over the decades, and its emerging role in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The growth of SSC in volume and geographical reach, has also resulted in context-specific approaches, modalities, instruments, patterns and scales of SSC, which has made it difficult to develop a common definition of SSC and a standardized approach to quantifying SSC flows.
Globally, triangular cooperation continues to expand and to enhance its effectiveness, voluntary guidelines for effective triangular cooperation were launched in 2019, emphasizing country ownership; shared commitments; a focus on results; inclusive partnerships and multi-stakeholder dialogues; transparency and mutual accountability; innovation; joint-learning and knowledge-sharing; the advancement of gender equality; and leaving no one behind.
Read the latest analysis by the Task Force here.
Revelant SDG indicators