At the Global South-South Development Expo, in Antalya, Turkey, the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), in partnership with the WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger, FAO, and UNICEF, held a side event to discuss Brazil-UN trilateral South-South cooperation practices. The goal was to promote a critical reflection on the methodologies of cooperation involving UN agencies and developing countries.
The insights and lessons shared at the side event contributed to the coordination of the South-South cooperation agenda among UN agencies and increased knowledge on the Brazilian South-South cooperation innovative practices. ABC outlined the principles of implementation and the shared governance of these initiatives. The WFP Centre of Excellence shared with participants how its methodologies have been contributing to the 2030 Agenda.
Jorge Chediek, director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, opened the event and highlighted that Brazil shares its human resources with other countries through its public institutions, following the principles of South-South cooperation. He highlighted the innovation that the creation of the WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger encompasses. “The UN in Brazil realized that the country was doing some fantastic work in terms of social programmes, including its fight against hunger, and at the same time the government of Brazil was very committed to sharing these experiences”.
ABC
ABC highlighted that the Brazilian cooperation model is horizontal and demand-driven. Brazil does not transfer solutions to other developing countries; it shares its experiences and builds solutions jointly with the partner country. Anna Maria Graziano, project manager of ABC, stressed that the Brazilian cooperation is not based on financial resources, but on the technical expertise developed in Brazil, the challenges overcome in the country, and in the joint building of solutions adapted to the reality of each partner country.
WFP Centre
The WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger showcased its contribution to the 2030 Agenda, especially the Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 17 and highlighted the main benefits and challenges of trilateral South-South cooperation.
Daniel Balaban, director of the WFP Centre stressed that the creation of the Centre of Excellence leveraged strengths of the World Food Programme and of Brazil and responded to demands from developing countries interested in learning about the Brazilian experience in reducing poverty and hunger in a short period. “Brazil started cooperating because there was a demand from others countries to understand its national policies and programmes”.
FAO
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization presented how trilateral South-South cooperation with Brazil enhances the organization’s contribution to develop capacity for agenda setting and policy levers for sustainable food systems. FAO also presented the main benefits and challenges of this cooperation model and highlighted the need to foster cooperation among Rome-based agencies.
UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund highlighted the methodology used for trilateral South-South cooperation with Brazil, emphasizing that Brazil is one of the few countries where UNICEF has a structured programme with operational and programmatic guidelines for these processes. Ian Thorpe, chief of learning and knowledge exchange of UNICEF, stressed that South-South cooperation is complementary to other kinds of assistance provided by UNICEF. He said that many of the challenges that children face around the world are common, and many of the solutions to these challenges are coming from the South, including Brazil.