Ministers, Ambassadors, Delegates, Colleagues, it is a pleasure to be here with you to discuss the vibrant topic of “South-South and Triangular Cooperation”.

South-South Cooperation in its various modalities and denominations has been a long standing driving force in the ILO.  I recall my experience at the CINTEFOR, the Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training, based in Montevideo (Uruguay), in the 70’s, when we were working in connecting training institutions, sharing experiences and knowledge throughout Latin American countries.

By that time, we use to call it technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC), which was based on solidarity among the so called “third world” countries to support each other in a spirit of non-conditionality, equality and sharing. Certainly, this was a totally different political and economic context. The world was divided into blocks, imperialism and post-colonialism were the rule in many countries, democracy was a rarity, and any international cooperation action was considered suspicious.

The concept evolved after 2000 into “South South” cooperation, which basically carries the same principles of TCDC, but expands to a more geo - political dimension adapted to the new developments in the global economy. It is an expression of a new direction in international cooperation, the reflection of rapidly expanding innovations and new demands. In this new global reconfiguration no region of the world has the monopoly of knowledge and solutions.

The economic crisis has reinforced the shifting balance of relations in the international arena. Developing countries have increased their protagonism as economic and political actors, assuming leadership, innovating and finding their own way, and playing an increasingly role in international cooperation.

Emerging countries that have become major drivers of world economic growth are blowing some fresh air into the development cooperation, shaping new modalities of solidarity with the intensification of South-South exchanges. These now account for about 10 per cent of global ODA. Brazil, China, India, Turkey and South Africa have become players in South-South Cooperation. Regional groups such as MERCOSUR ASEAN, the Portuguese Countries in Africa have also joined collectively this modality.  Many countries of the North (including the US, Japan, France, Ireland, Spain, just to name a few) have also supported countries of the South in their efforts to support each other in the “triangular cooperation” modality.

Let me say that South-South Cooperation is about knowledge sharing. Knowledge production is everywhere and evolves at in very impressive path. Today more and more people can participate in the collective knowledge – building process. New technologies allow even the most excluded groups from the most remote areas to connect and communicate with the global community. What we need now are knowledge gates to facilitate exchanges, knowledge platforms in which those who are assessing are, at the same time, users and providers.

International organizations must also adapt and innovate to facilitate the connections that are demanded in South-South Cooperation. And most importantly, we must also link those who can think globally about local solutions and those that from the local perspective often understand better, what is actually needed.

Finally, from the perspective of the ILO, the principles that characterize South-South Cooperation are very much in line with the Decent Work Agenda. It provides the basis for a much more integrated, sustainable and varied development and growth agenda and for a working out of poverty approach.  The decent work agenda is a powerful platform to enhance South-South and Triangular Cooperation. It includes mutually reinforcing objectives in the areas of fundamental principles and rights at work, employment promotion and enterprise development, social protection and social dialogue.

The ILO has undertaken over 100 initiatives using to some extent the SSC modality to address specific topics such as child labour, social security, employment intensive investments, knowledge sharing and strengthening of employers’ and workers’ organizations.  

The ILO’s role in these projects varied: From coordinating projects, to providing technical expertise, to facilitating the sharing of knowledge. The South South and Triangular Cooperation in the ILO is complementary to North South and other forms of cooperation, but taps on an extraordinary untapped potential from the “Global South”.