25 February 2020, Brussels, Belgium - Sharing and disseminating information amongst African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and subsequently between them and other developing countries of the Global South, is of central importance. 

In order to share experiences of the progress made by the ACP Group and its partners in addressing the challenges in implementing the Agenda 2030 SDGs, a wide range of stakeholders, have gathered today in Brussels, including representatives of ACP Member States, Secretariat Experts, CPLP/PALOP, EU Parliament, European Commission and Council, Belgian Government, financial institutions, emerging economies’ countries, UN Agencies, private sector, civil society and academia.

The one-day Symposium consists of panel presentations made by ACP Group Representatives and its partners followed by interactive discussions with the audience. 

The aim is to come up with an action-oriented draft work plan for South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC), which would support initiatives at national, regional, intra-ACP and international levels, in order to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.

Speaking during a panel concerning the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the decade of accelerated Progress and BAPA+40 outcome document, Mr. Tang Shengyao, Director, Office of South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) of FAO, shared his views on how South-South and Triangular Cooperation mechanisms enable developing countries to achieve sustainable development.

“FAO and ACP and the international community need to boost the power of SSTC for agriculture and rural development, aiming to enhance food security and nutrition, strengthen inclusive agri-food value chains, as well as improve access of the most vulnerable poor rural people to markets, supporting their resilience to shocks and crisis.” said FAO’s South-South and Triangular Cooperation Director, Mr. Tang. “FAO’s Hand-in-Hand initiative will be an instrumental high-impact and innovative SSTC initiative in supporting member countries to achieve the 2030 Agenda” he added.  

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of India and the Secretariat of the ACP Group of States, to leverage on the potential of the ACP Information Centre for South-South and Triangular Cooperation, is also one of the key milestones taking place during this symposium. 

Middle-income Southern countries have played a key role in financing SSTC initiatives implemented and/or facilitated by FAO during the past two decades.

While Brazil and China have traditionally been major players in financing SSC projects in FAO through Trust Funds, other Southern countries and triangular partners, including Japan, Mexico, Morocco, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and Venezuela have become important technical and financial providers for SSTC.

In order to guarantee development effectiveness and concrete results for the citizens in ACP countries, South-South and Triangular Cooperation will be a key tool to attract new and non-traditional partners.

FAO and the ACP group have been working closely together for many year. An example is the Memorandum of Understanding signed by FAO and the Secretary General of the ACP Group in 2015, geared towards supporting the ACP member countries work towards achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals, which included an ACP South-South Cooperation programme for food security and agriculture, technology sharing, knowledge exchange and policy dialogue between tropical countries.

See the full webcast here