13/02/2024 Rome – In order to kick-start imminent 2024 South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) joint initiatives, the three Rome-based Agencies (RBAs) Directors in charge of SSTC met this week at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Discussions were held on a revised joint roadmap for SSTC, to expand the RBAs current SSTC partnership base, donor engagement, improve their approach to evidence-based knowledge promotion, and enhance advocacy and communication on SSTC value and contributions to Zero Hunger.

The three RBAs agreed on the need to strengthen collaboration with other UN Agencies, International and Financial Institutions, governments, policy makers, experts, and practitioners to discuss challenges, share insights, and formulate strategies for innovative SSTC financing.

Tapping into the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) Trust Funds and coming up with concrete joint initiatives to be presented at upcoming events, such as the LLDC3 in Kigali, Rwanda was also suggested by the three RBAs.

Anping Ye, Director of the SSTC Division in FAO, opened the meeting, reiterating the need to join forces, in order to come up with innovative SSTC resource mobilization initiatives to further mainstream SSTC: “We have to be ready to support the Global South in its actions towards sustainable agrifood systems transformation through the SSTC mechanism and resource mobilization. A robust, efficient, and effective Rome-Based Agencies roadmap on strategic SSTC initiatives is therefore crucial”.

Other important agenda items were discussed during the meeting, such as the RBAs joint pilot programme on Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF), with the notable advancement achieved in Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and the Philippines.

To date, important steps on the RBAs Home-Grown School Feeding programme have been taken by the RBAs.

“RBA collaboration in SSTC has been a high priority for WFP and we are pleased to see the RBA joint programmes on home-grown school feeding are advancing in Kenya and Rwanda” said David Kaatrud, Director of the Programme (Humanitarian and Development) Division, WFP.

Discussions followed on another important SSTC player – the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) – who has just recently expressed its willingness to support the RBAs for a new Family Farming and School Meals joint initiative under the South-South and Triangular Cooperation mechanism.

A first meeting to discuss overall RBAs/ABC strategies was held earlier this month in IFAD, together with FAO and WFP. As such, IFAD counterparts provided an overall summary of these discussions, main outcomes and next steps to be followed by the RBAs and ABC.

“The partnership with Brazil through South-South and Triangular Cooperation presents a significant chance to enhance our inter-agency collaborative efforts. It has the potential to set a precedent for improved synergies across our various mutual initiatives”, said Ron Hartman, Director, Global Engagement, Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Division, IFAD.

Finally, in order to keep the RBAs and ABC momentum going, it was proposed that this year’s UN Day for South-South Cooperation (SSC) be hosted in Brazil, in collaboration with the Brazilian Cooperation Agency. The celebration would provide an occasion to formalize the joint RBA-ABC partnership currently in discussion. FAO informed the other RBAs that a concept note was accordingly in the making, and that their inputs will be key, to come up with another successful joint celebration.

In their closing remarks, the RBA Directors highlighted the vital need to further strengthen and expand their existing SSTC partnerships portfolio.

Please see all the related photos here: https://bit.ly/3QIFnJi