United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation
Next: September 12, 2027
Good ideas travel between neighbours.
The story
Where it comes from
In 2003 the UN General Assembly declared a United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation, first marked on 19 December 2004. In 2011 it moved the day to 12 September, the date in 1978 when 138 countries meeting in Buenos Aires adopted a plan of action for technical cooperation among developing countries. The idea behind it is simple: countries of the Global South can learn a great deal from one another, because every country has knowledge, experience and practical solutions worth sharing.
How it's celebrated
The UN marks the day with a high-level event at its headquarters in New York, where governments, UN agencies, universities and civil society groups share solutions that have worked in one developing country and could work in another, in fields such as renewable energy, public health, farming and education. For the rest of us it is a good day to learn something from a neighbour, and to pass on something we know.
Did you know
- The idea of South-South cooperation won international recognition at the 1955 Bandung Conference in Indonesia, which brought together 29 African and Asian leaders.
- In 1974 the General Assembly backed a special unit within the UN Development Programme to promote cooperation among developing countries, and since 2012 it has been called the UN Office for South-South Cooperation.
- 'Triangular cooperation' is when two or more developing countries work together on a project with support from a developed country or an international organisation.
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