UN agrees to promote sustainable development through better cooperation

The United Nations (UN) agreed to promote cooperation to achieve sustainable development goals at the Second High-level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation concluded here Friday.

The conference issued a political declaration to advance cooperation to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

"The conference has brought the necessary momentum and provided us with a roadmap for South-South and triangular cooperation," said Achim Steiner, administrator of the UN Development Programme and secretary-general of the conference.

"We have forged new partnerships for current and future concerted efforts and seen the spectrum of opportunities available to us," said Steiner.

The outcome document recognized that South-South and triangular cooperation contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the globally-agreed blueprint for peace and prosperity for humans and the planet.

South-South cooperation is a term historically used by policy-makers and academics to describe the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between developing countries, also known as countries of the Global South.

According to the UN, the triangular cooperation is the collaboration in which traditional donor countries and multilateral organizations facilitate South-South initiatives through the provision of funding, training, management and technological systems, as well as other forms of support.

Maria Fernanda Espinosa, president of the UN General Assembly, underscored the positive role of multilateralism in achieving "outstanding results" through cooperation during the closing ceremony of the conference.

"The final document reflects the evolution of South-South cooperation and constitutes a path into the future. It opens up a range of possibilities to further expand the horizons of solidarity collaboration, also with other developed countries and other central actors," she said.

Espinosa highlighted that South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation help accelerate the implementation of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development by eradicating poverty and hunger, ensuring more health services, quality education, promoting environmental protection and by stopping discrimination and violence against women, among other goals.

Jorge Chediek, director and envoy of the secretary-general on South-South Cooperation, said the outcome document brings countries together to commit to a broader scope of collaboration that goes beyond the technical aspects to address global issues.

According to UN reports, about 160 delegations from member states and almost 4,000 participants from non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and civil society participated in the three-day conference.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)