02 November, 2009

Leading up to the sixth U.N. Day for South-South Cooperation - December 19 - the Global South-South Development Expo will be held at the World Bank Main Complex in Washington, DC from December 14–17, 2009. (See link for event details - www.southsouthexpo.org). The GSSD Expo is designed as a concrete response to the strong commitment made by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UNDP Administrator to help the Global South realize its shared aspirations for achieving sustainable and equitable development through the sharing and transfer of Southern-grown development solutions (SDSs).  “The growing trend among Southern countries to look not only to reducing poverty within their own borders but also to raise the development prospects of other developing countries is exhibited across a range of countries, including strong emerging economies and other South-South pivotal countries,” says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. This year, we would like to encourage both individuals and organizations to register for the GSSD Expo at the official website: www.southsouthexpo.org and nominate solutions in four focal areas: (1) South-South and Triangular Cooperation; (2) Climate Change and Environment; (3) Health; and (4) Food Security. The GSSD Expo enables developing countries and their development partners - including donor agencies, organizations of the United Nations system, and private-sector and civil society organizations - to showcase their evidence based South-South development solutions.  It provides a powerful platform for developing countries and their development partners to celebrate successes, share knowledge and lessons learned, explore new avenues for collaboration, and initiates new collaborative efforts towards achieving the objectives set forth in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals (IADGs).  In addition, the GSSD Expo will seek to encourage and emphasize the importance of forging innovative and inclusive partnerships for South-South cooperation, including triangular and public-private partnerships.  At the inaugural GSSD Expo 2008, more than 100 partner countries, the United Nations system, private sector and other entities made contributions - and over 60 Southern development solutions relevant to achieving the MDGs were showcased. The Global South faces a host of complex and cross-cutting challenges, including persistent poverty, energy and food scarcity, and climate change, to name but a few.  And these challenges, which are collectively faced by the South, call for combined action. “Developing countries have many lessons learned and useful technologies which can assist their peers to meet their development challenges”, says Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator. “Developmentally-focused South-South flows of finance, technology, and know-how must be recognized and further encouraged as an increasingly important dimension of development co-operation.” Through collective action, the event can offer successful and scalable development solutions to the broader community and come closer to realizing the shared goal of achieving sustainable and equitable development. For further information, please contact the Secretariat through website:www.southsouthexpo.org ------- Special Unit for South-South Cooperation United Nations Development Programme 304 East 45th Street, New York, NY 10017 Tel. 212-906-6944 Fax. 212-906-6429 Email: gssdexpo.secretariat@undp.org Website: www.southsouthexpo.org