November 13, 2017
SDG Fund featured in UN Secretary-General report on South-South Cooperation

The SDG Fund promotes South-South Cooperation as a vehicle to share and disseminate knowledge, and facilitate policy and technical exchange through joint programmes in 23 countries of the Global South. The recently published 2017 Report of the Secretary-General on State of South-South Cooperation includes information from the SDG Fund. It is based on responses to General Assembly resolution 71/244, which aims to assess concrete measures taken by the UN development system to improve South-South cooperation initiatives at the national, regional and global levels. The following activities are among those highlighted in the report:

• The SDG Fund has contributed to capacity-building initiatives with the aim to support South-South knowledge exchange mechanisms. For instance, the SDG Fund collaborated in 2016 with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in developing E-learning Course: Business & the 2030 Agenda: Working Together Towards a Sustainable Future. This is an online tool for businesses and governments that supports capacity-building to strengthen public-private sector partnerships in the Global South in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

• In July 2017, the SDG Fund launched an online library of good practices and lessons learned regarding the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the SDGs, including those pertaining to South-South cooperation. The library links to publications from key UN agencies, development banks, and academic institutions. It hosts resources gathered during the implementation of the MDGs through 130 joint programmes run by the MDG Achievement Fund,  which preceded the SDG Fund.

• Finally, the SDG Fund’s experience was mentioned as a good example of promoting South-South cooperation to strengthen regional integration in the small island development states (SIDS). SDG Fund’s joint programmes in Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu engaged youth in organic farming in order to create jobs and secure livelihoods. These three participating countries shared knowledge and experiences with each other and other SIDS in the Pacific region in order to learn about best practices for promoting employment opportunities for youth in organic agriculture. Findings confirmed that South-South cooperation between participating countries facilitated learning and strengthened technical expertise, improving the likelihood of success.