The Origins of the Programme for South-South Cooperation

August 2002- World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Johannesburg, South Africa: Strategic Partnership Agreement for Cooperation on Sustainable Development was signed by The Republic of Benin, The Kingdom of Bhutan, and the Republic of Costa Rica. The agreement, open to other countries willing to join the partnership,  was the outcome of the collaboration of the three partner countries and the Kingdom of the Netherlands within the framework of the Sustainable Development Agreements (SDAs). The agreement planned for the partnership to be executed from May 2007 to November 2010.

May 2005- Programme for South-South Cooperation Created: During the Joint Committe Meeting of the Bilateral Agreements for Sustainable Development and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the three participating countries reaffirmed their committment to sustainable development goals, and the Programme for South South Cooperation (PSC) on Sustainable Development was created.

The UNDP defines the South-South Cooperation (SSC) as

"A broad framework for collaboration among countries of the South, in the political, economic, social, environmental and technical domains. Involving three or more developing countries, South-South Cooperation takes into consideration the guiding principles of equality, reciprocity and participation; and strives to function as a political, administrative and financial framework to develop SSC, with the intention to make this a replicable model."

Read more about the South-South Programme for Cooperation.