OAS Signs Agreement with UNOSSC to Host UN Global Expo on South-South Development 2014

Washington, October 31, 2014.- The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, signed an agreement with the Director of the United Nations Office on South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), Yiping Zhou, to host the UN Global Expo on South-South Development 2014 at OAS headquarters November 17-21.

Upon signing the document, Secretary General Insulza noted that “south-south cooperation for us is not only the future; it is also what we try to practice now.” The Secretary General recalled that the OAS is a regional organization of the United Nations, and said, “We take that very seriously.” The Expo, said the OAS leader, represents an “opportunity to bring together global partners –solution providers, solution seekers, financiers, business leaders, policymakers and educators– to showcase successes, consolidate initiatives, build partnerships and launch projects to bring tested development solutions to scale”.

Secretary General Insulza noted some of the programs of the Organization that promote south-south cooperation, citing among the many examples Inter-American Social Protection Network, and the Inter-American Competitiveness Network. “We are interested in serving as a bridge, not only between the countries of our region, but also with the rest of the developing world to share the experiences we have,” the OAS leader said. In this context, he said, South-South and triangular cooperation are key mechanisms “to prevent setbacks in the global development agenda, and to allow developing countries to continue in the race toward the achievements of the goals to be set in the post-2015 development agenda”.

For his part, the Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, said the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon is “very committed to promoting South-South and triangular cooperation. He firmly believes that a new global partnership will not succeed without the southern partners in this equation. He also believes that without the engagement of the private sector and civil society´s contribution, not only will the millennium development goals remain a challenge, but the emerging sustainable development goals are unlikely to be met.” “Therefore,” he said, “as a UN system we are reaching out to organizations that have been championing the inclusive partnership model and with an expanded vision, like your Organization, to bring out the successes that developing countries and traditional donors have made in recent years and to showcase them”.

In this way, said the UNOSSC Director, his organization seeks to show the international community “that solutions to all types of development challenges, whether in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean or Eastern Europe, can be found in the global south, and that is exactly what we are going to do here, to showcase successes, solutions that are ready to be scaled up and opportunities ready for partners to make an impact”.

The signing ceremony was attended by the OAS Secretary for External Relations, Alfonso Quiñónez; the Chief of Staff of the UNOSSC, Rogel Nuguid; the Permanent Representative of Belize to the OAS, Nestor Mendez, and the acting Director of the Department of International Affairs of the OAS, Jane Thery, among others.