Through South-South and triangular cooperation, ILO/Cinterfor has promoted the collective construction of knowledge, the sharing of technological resources and the strengthening of existing capabilities in countries. This has made it possible to form a technical support network that involves multiple institutions in a spirit of solidarity, disseminates information and cooperates in the process of regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean (1).

From the first, this cooperation brought into being the premises that the UN prioritized in 1978, in the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (2) and that the General Assembly of the United Nations reaffirmed in 2009, with its Nairobi Declaration at the High Level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (3).

In this context, ILO/Cinterfor cooperation has the purpose of satisfying national demands for the development of skills, decent and productive work, and the goals established in the Millennium Development Goals for 2015. As recorded in the regular reports submitted by the  Special Unit on South-South Cooperation, hosted in UNDP (4) and the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), ILO/Cinterfor focuses on achieving a global, regional, sub-regional, national and/or local perspective; the identification of existing capabilities; the promotion of technical sharing; the development of quality information support; technical assistance; the encouragement of research opportunities; training and the support of public policies.

This intense South-South and triangular cooperation demands – at the same time – strengthening discussions with the ILO’s constituents; coordinating with other regions; exploring other cooperation patterns (South-North); developing improved impact monitoring and evaluation and enhancing the use of ICTs in the systematization and dissemination of lessons learned. Making progress in this respect will make it possible to comply with national and international mandates to promote South-South and triangular cooperation, as stated in the Declaration of Intent in support of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda signed by the IBSA countries (India, Brazil and South Africa) in November 2010 (5).

1. MERCOSUR. Declaration of Mar del Plata Summit 2010 (only in Spanish)
2. The Buenos Aires Plan of Action 1978
3. southsouthconference.org/
4. ssc.undp.org
5.Declaration of intent to promote the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda signed by IBSA countries