Palestine begins its preparations to preside over the United Nations Conference on South-South cooperation
The Palestinian Agency for International cooperation "PICA’’ has begun preparations for the second United Nations Conference on South Cooperation, as part of Palestine's preparations to preside over the Conference in fulfilment of its responsibilities as Chairman of the Group of 77 + China, to be held in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires from 20-23 March .
The date of the conference marks the fortieth anniversary of the first South-South cooperation Conference, held in Argentine in 1978, and a plan of action to strengthen technical and technical cooperation among developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, known as the Buenos Aires declaration.
The Palestinian Agency for International Cooperation (PICA) coordinates the development and technical agencies of the participating States, on the one hand, and the Conference, on the other, as the technical agency of the State and the President of the Conference, as well as the President of the Coordinating Committee of the International cooperation agencies of the States The Organization of the Islamic world also includes: Turkey, Indonesia, Tunisia and Morocco, as well as the Islamic Development Bank, in pursuit of the agreed goals of the Conference.
"In addition to the collective responsibility for coordination between agencies and conference-based bodies, the Agency has an individual responsibility to strengthen the role of Palestine in the implementation of the international development agenda through South-South cooperation programs, which are part of it in the areas Multiple development, and it will reverse its unique experience by providing technical support to other countries despite their work under complex conditions As being under occupation. "
Al-Zuhiri said that the Palestinian agency will organize a number of events in partnership with the Moroccan Agency for International cooperation, to showcase their experience in the field of health and their efforts in implementing the relevant international development goals, as well as other activities and programs that the Palestinian agency intends to organize In New York this year to present its contribution to the achievement of the development goals at the international level.
Since it was established by presidential decree in 2016 as an arm of public diplomacy, PICA has implemented many technical support programs within projects in the areas of agriculture, health, education, energy, poverty alleviation and rapid intervention to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, including projects in Mauritania, Rwanda, , Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Chile, Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Granadine, Indonesia, Dominica and Ecuador.
The agency is preparing to implement another package of programs and projects in Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Nicaragua, as well as an anti-poverty programmer in 12 African countries in cooperation with the Islamic Development Association and other Islamic agencies.
"All these programs and projects come within the framework of South-south, trilateral and multi-regional cooperation to achieve the development goals at the international level, and also in this context, our role comes in the context of preparing and chairing Palestine for the United Nations conference in Buenos Aires," al-Zuhiri said.
In 2017, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the second South-South cooperation conference in Buenos Aires, and mandated the United Nations Secretary-General to prepare a comprehensive report presenting the South-South tripartite and multi-pronged cooperation trends, including progress in the implementation of the Community Of the Plan of Action of the first conference in 1978, in particular the role of the United Nations in promoting such cooperation, focusing on the challenges and how to confront them, and identifying opportunities.
The United Nations also requested its Secretary-General to develop a comprehensive proposal, in line with the comprehensiveness of the Conference, to give special attention to the cooperation of developing and emerging South-South countries in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to place South-South cooperation at the heart of the United Nations multilateral cooperation system.
"The United Nations is required to put in place clear measures and procedures, the necessary financial and technical resources, the mainstreaming of South-South cooperation programs within its main systems and bodies, and the integration of these programs into its major programs, while at the same time emphasizing that South-South cooperation is not As a substitute for North-South cooperation (among developing countries south of the southern hemisphere with developed countries in Europe and North America), but rather a new area of multilateral cooperation, which would open up new and promising opportunities, stimulate North-South cooperation, and provide alternative and innovative purposes for work on Development cooperation ".
"As part of its preparations to preside over the Conference, Palestine is preparing a document concerning the outcomes of the Buenos Aires Conference," al-Zuhiri said. The Conference is an important opportunity for the countries of the South, and we expect it to contribute to a number of goals and aspirations, so South South cooperation becomes one of the tools of action to formulate and implement a new World development system. "
"The countries of the South, which possess the technical, human and even financial capabilities, cannot be limited in their role to implementation, but must contribute to the development of strategies and the formulation of development plans of an international nature," he said.
He continued: It is very important for States to have government systems, development funds and technical agencies that enable them to engage in South-South cooperation programs, and the Centers of action capable of doing the necessary research, establishing, maintaining and updating databases related to South South cooperation, as well as issuing Periodic reports reflecting this cooperation through activities and programs implemented within the framework of triangular and multi-cooperation. "
The national development Institutions, specifically the technical and international cooperation agencies, for the countries of the South are "more than ever required to develop systems to assess the impact of South-South cooperation programs on the development agenda of the international community," al-Zuhiri said. These agencies need to be convinced that this assessment process will lead to the development of performance and the promotion of results, especially with the growing role of the countries of the South in the implementation of the international development goals, and the provision of lessons and courses that the countries of the South can share in order to achieve a better environment for action and achievement. "