22 September, Beijing – The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) joined an informal roundtable organized by the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office in China (UN RCO) to commemorate the UN Day for South-South Cooperation. During the event, UNOSSC underscored the collaboration with partners in China, on COVID-19 and beyond.
Dr. Denis Nkala, Regional Coordinator and Representative of UNOSSC Asia and the Pacific Office gave opening remarks through a video message. He highlighted that, 19 out of the 195 cases featured in the newly-launched Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable development Volume 3 were contributions from development partners in China.
Dr. Denis Nkala’s video message displayed at the informal roundtable. Source: UNOSSC
UNOSSC has also been very active in knowledge-sharing on South-South Cooperation. Since the onset of the pandemic, close to forty exchanges and trainings have been organized and facilitated by UNOSSC, reaching over one million viewers globally. Under the UNOSSC Cities Project framework, UNOSSC has launched three sectoral capacity development webinar series on tourism, cross-border e-commerce, and reduction of disasters and risks, including public health emergencies.
Dr. Nkala further informed that the next Global South-South Development Expo has been scheduled to take place in Bangkok in 2021 and would be jointly hosted by the Government of Thailand and the United Nations Social and Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
The Cities Project team attended the roundtable and participated in the exhibition on the sidelines, presenting UNOSSC and Cities Project’s recent multimedia communication materials, relevant to COVID-19 response and recovery, including publications, newsletters, videos, and event flyers, as well as a research piece by Senior Research and Programme Advisor Dr. Hany Besada on post-COVID-19 South-South cooperation priority areas.
Cities Project team presenting communication materials to participants in the exhibition alongside the informal roundtable. Source: UNOSSC
UNOSSC and Cities Project multimedia materials presented at the exhibition. Source of Image: UNOSSC
The event was held to celebrate the economic, social and political developments made recently by the global South and take stock of the UN’s efforts in facilitating the technical cooperation among developing countries. Under the theme “Pathways Towards the SDGs Through South-South Solidarity Beyond COVID-19”, the roundtable gathered representatives from close to ten UN agencies, the Government of China, embassies, as well as NGO, think tank, and CSO partners.