an Eldis Resource
South-South cooperation in times of global economic crisis
Here to stay? The future prospects of South-South cooperation
Authors:
M. de Morais de Sa e Silva
Publisher:
International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, 2009
While South-South cooperation was first thought of during the Non-Aligned Movement, the concept did not take off in practice until the 1990s and early 2000s when a few middle-income countries, including Brazil, India and South Africa, began to emerge as global economic players. But can South-South cooperation keep up its momentum in the wake of the current financial crisis? A policy brief brought out by UNDP's International Poverty Centre now assesses the future prospects for South-South cooperation.
South-South cooperation projects are increasingly funded by developed-country triangulation initiatives. This means that reductions in official development assistance (ODA) provided to developing countries, which are likely during a recession, and changes in the distribution of ODA, will hamper such initiatives to some extent. In the present context, domestic, regional and international politics are also likely to increasingly influence the prospects for South-South cooperation. For instance, several Latin America countries are facing presidential elections in the near future.
On a more positive note, countries less affected by the crisis, such as Chile and Uruguay, may well enhance their involvement in South-South cooperation in the near future. Moreover, countries such as Brazil will probably continue sharing the lessons of their most creative economic and social programmes with the other countries of the South.
The brief concludes that since developing countries have already understood the benefits of South-South cooperation, there is no reason why this type of activity should significantly reduce as a result of the financial crisis.
