RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 27. South-South cooperation has been increasingly institutionalized, said Dima Al-Khatib, Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), Trend reports.
She made the remarks during the panel discussions on 50 Years of Championing South-South Cooperation in its Member Countries and Beyond held as part of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) annual meetings in Riyadh.
“We do have a very important role in supporting intergovernmental processes, different declarations, decisions that happens at the global level and ensuring that South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation are mainstreamed and definitely supported,” said Al-Khatib.
She noted that the recent events that have been happening whether it's the Havana Declaration on science, technology and innovation, whether it's the south summit, whether it's the middle income countries’ declaration, every declaration and every decision so far has been voicing the importance of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation in bridging the gap of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and advancing the development.
“South-South cooperation has been increasingly institutionalized. Another key constituency of what we do is to also demonstrate how does South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation work and this is via the trust funds that we manage and that are entrusted to us by member states from the south, and that are implemented by the multilateral system,” she said.
Al-Khatib underpinned the importance of the role of the UN system at the countries’ and the regional level, in terms of bringing also the technical expertise and supporting South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation.
“Another key aspect is the generation of scalable and shareable knowledge across countries,” she added.
The Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) is holding its 2024 Annual Meetings and Golden Jubilee in Riyadh from April 27-30, under the Royal Patronage of the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
The 2024 Annual Meetings are being held under the theme of “Cherishing our Past, Charting our Future: Originality, Solidarity and Prosperity”, which marks IsDB’s 50 years of fostering socio-economic development in its member countries.
Among other topics, the meetings will also feature a roundtable on COP29 with the participation of Azerbaijani government representatives.
As the premier South-South multilateral development Bank, the 2024 IsDB Group Annual Meetings and Golden Jubilee are expected to attract international and regional attention. The Annual Meetings will feature a series of side events with top-level panelists from government, international and regional organizations, the private sector, academia, and civil society.
Ministers of Economy, Planning, and Finance from IsDB's 57 member countries will participate in the event, along with representatives of international and regional financial institutions, Islamic banks, private sector companies, national and international development finance institutions, international and regional organizations, NGOs, chambers of commerce & Industry, and business councils.