What 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).