Leveraging Partnerships and Resource Mobilization for South-South and Triangular Cooperation
10/05/2023 Rome/Cairo – South-South and Triangular Cooperation is becoming increasingly pivotal through its innovative solutions for tackling issues of food insecurity and poverty.
These matters and other items were discussed at today’s virtual Capacity Development workshop on Resource Mobilization for South-South and Triangular Cooperation: “Leveraging South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Reducing Poverty and Hunger, and promoting Rural Development”.
The South-South and Triangular Cooperation division (PST) in FAO, has initiated a rigorous capacity development and sensitization drive across all regions of FAO on South-South and Triangular Cooperation.
The workshop aimed at improving the capacity of FAO’s decentralized offices to mainstream SSTC into agriculture policies, programmes and investment projects, in line with FAO’s strategic framework, the BAPA+40 plan of action, and as part of the Decade of Action, to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, in particular SDG2 and SDG1.
At the opening, Abulhakim El Waer, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Near East and North Africa Region (RNE), stressed the importance of SSTC programmes and emphasized the need for the RNE region to further extend its technical excellence in support to countries in the region and beyond.
The RNE Regional Office also plays an active role in promoting South-South and Triangular cooperation across Member Countries and in facilitating dialogue on regional issues and common transboundary challenges. A few concrete examples were shared by Abulhakim El Waer, such as key SSTC collaborations with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc.
Also at the opening, Anping Ye, Director of FAO’s South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division (PST) highlighted how, through South-South and Triangular Cooperation, countries in the Near East and North Africa Region can work together to address development challenges and achieve sustainable and inclusive growth.
FAO has been working at central and decentralized levels, to promote SSTC amongst its Member States as a means to reduce poverty and hunger, while promoting sustainable agrifood systems.
The SSTC Guidelines for Action, a key instrument to scale up SSTC technical and financial partnerships to support agrifood systems transformation, were also presented, along with its new toolkit and the soon-to-be-launched SSTC Gateway platform.
To complement the discussion, colleagues from the Near East and North Africa Region and from FAO Headquarters, representing the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund teams, also provided valuable information and shared their experiences on arising opportunities and challenges faced, when designing, implementing and funding SSTC initiatives and project.
Participants also acknowledged that the extensive knowledge and development solutions generated in the global South offer vast potential for other developing countries to learn, adapt, replicate and scale-up ideas and initiatives. Concrete examples were shared by Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq and other key countries involved in SSTC projects.
FAO Representatives in their presentations also endorsed and emphasized the efficiency and value addition of southern collaboration, as an implementation modality for their respective field interventions.
SSTC is also a framework that enables developing countries to share and exchange knowledge, experience and technologies.
In his concluding remarks, Alexander Jones, Director of the Resource Mobilization and Private Sector Partnerships Division in FAO, also highlighted the need for adequate and sustained financial resources – public, private, from financial institutions, and noted the unique role that SSTC plays in that endeavor. Resource Mobilization also goes beyond the mere availability of funds. As such, SSTC is one of the key modalities to support emerging countries acquire measurable impacts, he noted.
Participants also stressed the importance of capacity development for SSTC, which helps to build trust, strengthen partnerships, enhance communication, and promote a shared vision for development.
This workshop was jointly organized for the Near East and North Africa Region, by the South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division (PST) and the Resource Mobilization and Private Sector Partnerships Division (PSR) in FAO. This is the second of a series of regional tailored SSTC Resource Mobilization (RM) trainings, which will run throughout this year and beyond.
