Events
Building Block on South-South and Triangular Cooperation Brussels
5 March - 6 March, Brussels, Belgium
Rio+20
20 June - 22 June, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
PSSC on YouTubeWhat is the PSSC?
Partners in South-South Cooperation is a strategic partnership for cooperation on sustainable development, with the intention to make this a replicable model. Cooperation between Costa Rica in Central America, Benin in West Africa, and Bhutan in South Asia has already lead to 36 separate programmes delivering thousands of jobs and hundreds of new businesses and products. The focus of the programme rests on four intertwined pillars of sustainable development: economic development, social development, environmental protection and gender equity.
Recognizing that poverty alleviation will be achieved only in the context of sustainable development, the PSSC seeks to catalyze the transition to sustainability by supporting innovation in policies, seeding initiatives, replicating successes, establishing new partnerships with civil society organisations between the partner countries, and disseminating information.
Sustainable development is interpreted as achieving a balance between social, ecological and economic development for this and future generations.
PSSC Programmes are practical, hands-on and with a strong focus on durability. Through their joint projects, people from the various countries have built a lasting friendship and they remain engaged with each other. In almost four years, PSSC activities have led to the empowerment of women, the creation of income for poor farmers, protection of mangrove ecosystems, reduction of the use of chemical fertilizers, distribution of solar panels and improvement of hygiene in poor communities through waste management.
PSSC addresses, directly or indirectly, the prioritised sustainable development themes (especially water, energy, agriculture and biodiversity) and the Millennium Development Goals (especially poverty reduction, gender equity, environmental sustainability and partnership for development).
News
RIO +20
The objective of the Conference is to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges.
The Conference will focus on two themes: (a) a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and (b) the institutional framework for sustainable development.
For more information: http://www.uncsd2012.org
Building Block on South-South and Triangular Cooperation Brussels
The IV High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, that took place in Busan, Republic of Korea (November 29 - December 1) was a historic opportunity to recognize that the cooperation landscape is experiencing decisive changes, several of them triggered by the pro-active role of southern partners that are broadening the menu of development options for addressing key development common challenges.
The Busan Outcome Document not only pledges to broaden support for South-South (SSC) and Triangular Cooperation (TrC), helping to tailor these horizontal partnerships to a greater diversity of country contexts and needs. It also provides a clear and strong political mandate, in the framework of the emerging Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation
More than 60 partners of the South-South process had been working towards this goal since the Bogotá High Level Event in March 2010. This 20-month process marked a milestone in the history of SSC and TrC as countries, international organizations and civil society organizations, with the support of a community of practice of more than 1,400 members worldwide and a broad network of academic institutions from Africa, America and Asia, engaged in an extended and rigorous discussion in order to explore the full potential of this modality and its contribution to global development.
The results of this process not only showed the importance of learning more systematically and rigorously (producing 31 case studies and more than 150 case stories) about what works and what doesn't in SSC and TrC, it also generated valuable commitments at the global and national level that are now key to the success of the implementation of a more detailed work plan.
Objectives of the meeting
As announced during the breakfast meeting that gathered all the Building Block members in Busan (Nov. 30, 2011), the first official working meeting of the Building Block will be convened by the Government of Colombia and facilitated by La Francophonie on the March 5-6, 2012 in Brussels, Belgium.
During the meeting, all members will have the opportunity to examine the proposal in light of the commitments contained in the Busan Outcome Document and the current discussions of the Post-Busan Interim Group, and agree on concrete actions and next steps that will allow its successful implementation.
CNN: Pineapple farmers share expertise
CNN's West Africa Correspondent Christian Purefoy looks into Benin farmers sharing their expertise with people from the other side of the world in this video.