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Statement by Mr. Kemal Derviş
Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
on the occasion of the 4th United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation
United Nations Headquarters, New York

Your Excellencies,
Honored Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we mark the Fourth UN Day for South-South Cooperation, we should celebrate the dramatic economic, social and political energy the South is increasingly demonstrating and which is changing the very nature of the international community. Developing countries are now the largest contributors to global growth.  In 2006, the GDP of developing countries grew at twice the rate of high income countries. The South is capturing ever larger shares of global trade and capital flows, becoming not only a destination, but a source of global finance, skills, and technology. 

While this performance has been truly impressive, it has unfortunately been driven in large part by the remarkable economic performance of a few large and robust economies. Many developing countries, greater in number if smaller in population, are being left behind while others enjoy the benefits of global integration. While some countries have made remarkable progress in eliminating extreme poverty, progress towards the Millennium Development Goals remains uneven, the gap between the world’s richest and poorest countries continues to widen, and many developing countries struggle to advance socially and economically.

As we look ahead, there are opportunities on the horizon for us to take advantage of the fact that we know what is needed for developing countries to benefit from globalization, namely access to financing, technology, and expertise to foster their development. The challenge for those countries left behind is that catching-up does not depend exclusively on their efforts alone. Many of the challenges they face are global, and therefore require global collective action. Perhaps there is no better illustration than climate change. As this year’s Human Development Report demonstrates so compellingly, many developing countries will suffer from the consequences of climate change more intensely and rapidly, meaning real progress in human development could stall, or worse, reverse entirely. This could encourage divergence in the global economy – and there is very little that developing countries can do on their own both to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Another example of interdependence relates to the financial sector.  Today, the single biggest threat to the continued rapid growth in the world economy has at its source insufficient regulations in the advanced countries of new structured financial products and complex securitized assets.  It would indeed be a great tragedy if the farmers and workers in developing countries who were finally beginning to gain from the rapidly expanding world economy were now to have to suffer because of a world economic slowdown due to the recklessness of the super rich.  Let us hope that policy makers will not allow that to happen.

Many of the responses to challenges like these involve common actions. While the international community has to make good on the commitments to increase overseas development assistance, we must also contribute the finance and incentives for global public goods – like climate stability or financial stability. In this overall context, South-South cooperation also plays a critical role. It calls upon the creativity, energy, and knowledge of developing countries to be an innovative force in ensuring all countries are part of global integration and reap the benefits from it.  This fosters convergence in economic and human development terms, improves governance, and helps with conflict resolution.

The South is already showing the way. Through individual entrepreneurs, government leaders, and businesses, developing countries are creating innovative methods to enhance development and address global challenges.  Mohammed Yunus has helped to alleviate poverty in Bangladesh by promoting micro-credit lending for the poor. In Africa, businessman Mo Ibrahim has committed to establishing an organization that monitors good governance in Africa.  Regional organizations such as the African Union and The New Partnership for Africa’s Development, are playing a key role in facilitating South-South cooperation on the continent to promote good governance and conflict resolution.

While these successes should be celebrated, there is always more that can be done. Countries in the South employ successful strategies to combat diseases such as HIV/AIDS by making locally manufactured medicines available at low-cost to other low-income countries. This type of South-South cooperation presents an opportunity for other Southern governments and pharmaceutical companies to learn and adapt these policies to other countries in the South. Conditional cash transfer policies, pioneered in countries like Brazil and Mexico, could be adapted and expanded to other developing countries.

We must take advantage of existing initiatives and resources, as well as new innovations, to open new opportunities for South-South cooperation.  This requires us to expand the scope of South-South cooperation to include areas outside the traditional development domain, such as South-South preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution.  It is clear that there is no lack of ideas, resources or know-how to meet the development challenges that lie ahead.  What is needed are stronger commitments to capitalize on existing innovations, facilitate networks of knowledge sharing and establish funding mechanisms that would help to encourage nascent and innovative programmes to reach their full potential. 

While bilateral and regional South-South cooperation is important and continues to grow, there is great need to reinvigorate multilateral forms of South-South collaboration in order to effectively address transnational challenges such as climate change.  In this regard, UNDP - with its presence in 166 countries - is committed to responding to the Secretary-General’s call to enhance “coherence of UN support to South-South cooperation” with the help of the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation. Support for South-South initiatives, through our common UN values and principles, is also central to our role of assisting countries in their efforts to meet the MDGs and other internationally agreed upon development goals. To this end, we need the support of the world community in order for these interventions to truly make an impact and contribute to inclusive and equitable globalization. 

With many thanks for your attention and best wishes to all for the holiday season.