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Promoting Effective Development
Cooperation: The role of the ACP
Group in South-South and Triangular
Cooperation
Working Paper
Dr. Carine Nsoudou, International Consultant
Brussels, May 2014
2
Contents
List of Abbreviations............................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 4
I) Background and Context: Poverty reduction and sustainable development at the core of the
ACP Group ............................................................................................................................................ 5
1) The Georgetown and Cotonou Agreements ................................................................................ 5
2) The European Development Fund and the co-management with the European Union............... 5
3) The ACP Group’s comparative advantages ................................................................................ 6
II) ACP involvement in the Post-Busan Global Partnership .......................................................... 7
1) The evolution of the aid effectiveness debate ............................................................................. 7
2) A growing ACP commitment to South-South and Triangular Cooperation................................ 8
III) Perspectives for practical engagement of the ACP in South-South and Triangular
Cooperation............................................................................................................................................ 9
1) South-South and Triangular Cooperation in the ACP: Cases in point ........................................ 9
2) The ACP as a knowledge repository and facilitator.................................................................. 12
3) Enhanced support to South-South and Triangular Cooperation through EU Development
Cooperation ....................................................................................................................................... 16
Concluding remarks............................................................................................................................ 20
References ............................................................................................................................................ 21
3
List of Abbreviations
AAA Accra Agenda for Action
ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific
BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa
DAC Development Assistance Committee
EDF European Development Fund
EU European Union
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation
IBSA India, Brazil, South Africa
LDC Least DevelopedCountry
MDGs Millennium Development Goals
MIC Middle Income Country
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
OIF Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie
SSC South-South Cooperation
TrC Triangular Cooperation
TriCo Trilateral Cooperation Fund
TT-SSC Task Team on South-South Cooperation
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization
4
Introduction
The world is changing rapidly, so is development cooperation landscape. This dramatic shift
is occurring notably due to the surge of South-South cooperation over the last two decades. If
trade and direct investment are often presented as the main areas of cooperation between
Global South countries, an increase in partnerships is also being witnessed in development
cooperation. The Global South has become a full-fledged actor on the global development
scene and the emergence of new economies has ushered in a promising era in this regard.
Although in the past decades millions of people have been lifted out of poverty in developing
countries, sustainable development and poverty reduction remain ambitious challenges that
can only be overcome by the structural transformation of developing countries. Frustrations
with the mainstream donor-recipient model of development cooperation are related to the
provision of solutions that are not always relevant to beneficiary countries. Economic,
technological and development paths’ similarities between Middle Income Countries (MICs),
notably emerging economies, and less developed countries allow for a greater potential of
adaptation of solutions offered by the more technically advanced group among developing
countries. Geographical proximity, cultural and historical ties also constitute potential
advantages.
The current enthusiasm within the international development community for South-South
Cooperation (SSC) and Triangular Cooperation (TrC), a “partnership between DAC-donors1
and providers of SSC2
to implement development cooperation projects in beneficiary
countries”3
, may be an indicator signaling the direction development cooperation is heading: a
more collaborative approach, based on funds, expertise and knowledge sharing. A critical
mass of MICs seems committed to leveraging their expertise, resources and knowledge, and
to sharing them with developing countries through South-South and Triangular arrangements.
SSC and TrC are increasingly seen as relevant and perhaps more effective instruments for
poverty reduction. The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group), because
of its history, the size of and diversity in its membership as well as its vast experience in
development cooperation is willing to become a key player in SSC and TrC. But faced with a
multiplicity of stakeholders, a growing number of platforms dedicated to SSC and TrC, and
the many potential sectors of engagement, how can the ACP Group and its Member States
most actively and effectively engage in these modalities? The purpose of this working paper
is to lay the groundwork for an ACP Position Paper. It argues that the ACP can play a central
role in SSC and TrC by leveraging its comparative advantages and transforming itself into an
indispensable interface; thus making its mark in the development cooperation landscape.
1
Multilateral organisations can also partner with providers of SSC
2
Also called “pivotal countries”
3
Langendorf J., Piefer N., Knodt M., Müller U., Lazaro L. (2012): Triangular Cooperation, A guideline for
working in practice, pp.25-26. This definition is a narrow understanding of the term. A broader understanding
can encompass as diverse activities as regional programmes, dialogue platforms or horizontal learning networks
as indicated in this book.
5
I) Background and Context: Poverty reduction and sustainable development at
the core of the ACP Group
Several factors, including the ACP Group’s objectives, composition and expertise, contribute
to making relevant and even necessary a role of the ACP in SSC and TrC.
1) The Georgetown and Cotonou Agreements
The cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific
Group of States, henceforth the ACP Group, dates back to the mid-1970s. The ACP Group
which was established in 1975 by the Georgetown Agreement signed the same year its first
partnership with the EU, the Lomé Convention. The successive Lomé Conventions and their
successor, the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, or Cotonou Agreement, concluded in 2000
for 20 years constitute the legal bases for this cooperation.
The Cotonou Agreement, which is the largest North-South Partnership as it currently
comprises 78 out of 79 ACP countries4
and 27 EU Member States, rests on three pillars: (i)
development cooperation mainly financed from the European Development Fund (EDF), (ii)
trade and economic cooperation as well as (iii) political dimension characterised by political
dialogue. The partnership through this innovative approach aims at “reducing and eventually
eradicating poverty consistent with the objectives of sustainable development and the gradual
integration of the ACP countries into the global economy”, as explicitly stated in the Cotonou
Agreement5
.
Both agreements share an unrestricted approach. Indeed, far from being exclusive, the
relations between the EU and the ACP Group have left some room for non-ACP developing
countries. The development of trade, economic and cultural relations amongst ACP States,
and amongst developing countries as a whole, through the development of information
exchanges in the fields of trade, technology, industry and human resources was already
enshrined in the Georgetown Agreement. In the same vein, when addressing regional
cooperation and integration, the Cotonou Agreement stipulates that this cooperation “shall
also support inter-regional and intra-ACP cooperation such as that involving: (c) non-ACP
developing countries”6
. Without explicitly mentioning them, these “openings” pave the way
for South-South and Triangular Cooperation.
2) The European Development Fund and the co-management with the European
Union
Based on mutual obligations, rights and shared principles, the ACP-EU Partnership is also
characterised by an ACP-EU joint management of the European funds dedicated to
development cooperation in the ACP. The ACP is involved at all levels of the aid
programming process: ACP States at national level, regional organisations at regional level,
and the ACP Group at Intra-ACP level. The Intra-ACP cooperation7
as it addresses the
common challenges facing ACP States that transcend the concept of geographical location is
of particular importance in the context of SSC and TrC.
4
The Cotonou Agreement has not been signed by Cuba.
5
ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, Title 1, Chapter 1, Article 1, 2010
6
ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, Section 3, Article 28, 2010, p.40-41
7
Such cooperation falls into three main areas: global initiatives, “all-ACP” initiatives and pan-African
initiatives.
6
The cooperation at Intra-ACP level which added up to €2.7 billion under the 10th
EDF
(against €2.884 billion under the 9th
EDF) is consistent with EU commitment to ensuring
ownership by associating the ACP Group to the programming process. As a case in point,
under the 10th
EDF the intra-ACP cooperation strategy and multiannual indicative programme
were jointly elaborated by the European Commission and the ACP Secretariat services8
.
Annual intra-ACP action programmes were drawn up after the identification and the appraisal
of relevant and mature programmes by the ACP Secretariat and the European Commission.
Besides developing a significant expertise in EU funds management, the ACP gained valuable
experience in negotiation, programming, programme management, and in dealing with a vast
array of partners at national, regional and global levels.
3) The ACP Group’s comparative advantages
The ACP Group presents a set of features that confers value to its engagement in SSC and
TrC.
Firstly, the internal diversity of the ACP Group in terms of economic development level,
population and size of its Member States should not solely be seen as a potential constraint for
the cohesion of the group but also as an undeniable asset for SSC and TrC. This Global
South’s heterogeneous grouping actually provides ACP countries and regions, and the
developing world as a whole, with opportunities to exchange valuable experiences. The
transregional nature of the ACP Group has the potential to allow studying the possibilities for
adoption and adaptation of specific national and regional policies, strategies or simply
programmes in other contexts.
Secondly, from over 30 years of structured engagement with the EU, mainly through planning
and programming of EDF resources, the ACP secretariat has acquired longstanding
negotiating and project formulation capacity. The accumulated experience of the ACP Group
and countries in programming funds allocated by the EU for development cooperation in the
framework of the Cotonou Agreement and in participating in the successive High Level Fora
on Aid Effectiveness has endowed the ACP Group with a comparative advantage for South-
South Cooperation. The Group possesses specialized knowledge and development
management experience on which to draw for the benefit of Member States and developing
countries as a whole. This human and organizational capital should be effectively invested to
improve the effectiveness of traditional donor-recipient approaches.
Moreover, that accrued knowledge and experience was also derived from working with a
wide spectrum of international, regional and private contracting agencies for Intra-ACP
Development Cooperation, in a very large number of sectors, and supporting various
international initiatives. For instance, under the 10th
EDF Intra-ACP cooperation, the ACP
and the EU invested in the health sector through the Global Fund to fight Aids, Turberculosis
and Malaria and GAVI Alliance. They also collaborated with the Commonwealth Secretariat
and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) on a trade policy-related
programme and supported the IMF regarding a Tax Policy and Administration programme to
name a few.
8
They are afterwards presented to ACP and EU decision-making bodies for adoption and signed by the
Commissioner responsible for Development and the Chair of the Committee of ACP Ambassadors.
7
The ACP Group should therefore capitalize on its specificities and the above-mentioned
comparative advantages to determine its future role and the practical modalities of its
engagement in SSC and TrC. These will also hinge on whether the ACP will keep
contributing to the momentum towards a new development paradigm.
II) ACP involvement in the Post-Busan Global Partnership
1) The evolution of the aid effectiveness debate
Development aid failure to produce expected results and the necessity to increase efforts with
a view to achieving the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) led to the formulation of a set
of principles aimed at stepping up aid effectiveness. Three landmark events constitute
milestones in the journey towards enhancing aid delivery: the High Level Fora on Aid
Effectiveness held in Rome in 2003, in Paris in 2005 and in Accra in 20089
. The latest of
these fora took place in Busan (South Korea) in 2011.
The acknowledgement of SSC in the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) provided the
opportunity for assessing the complementarities between SSC and TrC on one side and the
Aid Effectiveness agenda on the other side. South-South Cooperation, a framework for
collaboration and exchanges of knowledge, skills, resources and technologies between
countries of the Global South can prove successful where traditional development cooperation
fails to produce all expected results. The horizontal partnerships forged are based on trust,
equity and mutual learning. In this paradigm, these horizontal partnerships centred on the
ideas of knowledge and best practices sharing impose themselves as a complement to
traditional development cooperation model. These modes of cooperation allow for instance
developing countries to benefit from the experience of countries such as Brazil and Chile
which gained success in the fight against HIV/AIDS or in implementing social protection
programmes. If Global South countries, in particular MICs from Africa, Asia and Latin
America10
, but increasingly Least Developed Countries (LDCs), are taking centre stage in
these partnerships of a new type, traditional donors engaged in TrC or supporting South-South
arrangements are not on the losing end. Their cooperation with thriving new development
partners enables them to improve their own effectiveness, to “maintain influence, increase
visibility, and to overcome the sense of competition”11
.
This recognition triggered a whole process which saw, among others, the birth of the Task-
Team on SSC (TT-SSC) in 2009. The critical need for lessons learned has prompted the
emergence of platforms of exchanges such as the South-South Knowledge Exchange which
has been joined by driven practitioners and researchers. As a follow up to AAA, the Outcome
document of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held in Busan in 2011, or
Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, acknowledged SSC as an
important development cooperation modality particularly under the aegis of MICs12
. It
9
The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) and the Accra Agenda for Action (2008):
http://www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness/34428351.pdf
10 Some countries have emerged as new development partners: Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa in Africa,
China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam in Asia, and Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and
Mexico in Latin America. This list is not exhaustive.
11
Langendorf J., Piefer N., Knodt M., Müller U., Lazaro L. (2012): Triangular Cooperation, A guideline for
working in practice. GIZ publication.
12
10th
Ministerial Meeting of the ACP NAOs and RAOs: April 17-18 2013, South-South and Triangular
cooperation: Opportunities and Challenges
8
pledged to “broaden support for South-South and triangular co-operation, helping to tailor
these horizontal partnerships to a greater diversity of country contexts and needs”13
.
Resulting from this shift in perspective, SSC and TrC became an integral part of the Global
Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation.
Along with issues relating to the implementation of Busan commitments, domestic resources
mobilization or Middle Income Countries, SSC, TrC and Knowledge-sharing took centre
stage at the First High Level meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development
Cooperation that was held on 15-16 April 2014 in Mexico and was attended by ACP Group
representatives. Plenary and focus sessions highlighted these modalities’ positive impact and
called for an increase in and a strengthening of SSC and TrC as well as the quality
improvement of activities implemented through these modalites. The important role of
knowledge-sharing was consistently underscored during the meeting and was further stressed
in the High Level Meeting Communiqué which called for the “development of networks for
knowledge exchange, peer learning and coordination among all development partners”14
.
This enabling context provides opportunities for the ACP Group to play a significant role as a
central organisation in the shaping of a new development paradigm endowed with modalities
complementing the North-South cooperation model.
2) A growing ACP commitment to South-South and Triangular Cooperation
A major expression of ACP’s awareness of this rethinking and the importance to be proactive
were expressed by the convening of the ACP-OIF (Organisation Internationale de la
Francophonie) Symposium on South-South Cooperation that was held on 31 January 2011.
The Symposium included participation of Brazil and India’s Development Cooperation
Agencies as well as presentation of case studies by ACP Member States of Cuba, Nigeria and
South Africa demonstrating the longstanding practice and thematic areas successfully
addressed by South-South Cooperation. At the 2011 Symposium interventions made by the
European Commission, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Community of Portuguese
Language Countries also highlighted the scope and interest to collaborate with the ACP on
SSC.
A particularly tangible output of the January 2011 Symposium was the significant step
forward through the subsequent signing of an Memorandum of Understanding between the
ACP Secretariat and Brazil for technical cooperation exchanges and capacity building on food
security policy analysis and monitoring. This is a concrete example of translating South-South
Cooperation into practice. The presence of an ACP Delegation at the UN Conference on
LDCs in Istanbul (Turkey) in April 2011 was further evidence of the intention to broaden the
engagement of ACP on development cooperation affecting all LDCs. The close collaboration
of ACP with the OIF as a member of the TT-SSC was instrumental in having the ACP Group
incorporated as a member of the Building Block on South-South and Triangular Cooperation
13
Busan Partnership Document (2011). Accessible under: http://www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness/49650173.pdf
14
“Knowledge sharing can involve North-South, South-North, South-South and triangular and regional
approaches including the engagement of public and private stakeholders and the valuable support of multilateral
organizations. We encourage the development of networks for knowledge exchange, peer learning and
coordination among all development partners”. First High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective
Development Co-operation’s Communiqué, Mexico, 16 April 2014, p.5
9
that emerged at the Busan Forum with a mandate to formulate a proposal for a horizontal
partnership for better development outcomes.
As a follow up to the 2011 Symposium, the ACP Group organised a second Symposium on
South-South and Triangular Cooperation on 25 March 2014. This event saw the participation
of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the OIF and the European Commission which expressed
their positions as regards SSC and TrC. The representatives of the ACP Member States of
Benin, Fiji, Mozambique, and Trinidad and Tobago presented flagship SSC and TrC
programmes involving their respective countries. During this Symposium, the importance of
SSC and TrC in development cooperation was reasserted as well as the need for the ACP to
harness the comparative advantages of development cooperation partners increasingly
diverse. The necessity for the ACP to play a role in SSC and TrC, in order, among others, not
to be marginalised in the development cooperation landscape, was further emphasized. Views
were exchanged on a consultant’s proposal to transform the ACP into a SSC and TrC
knowledge repository and facilitator. The FAO further indicated its keen interest in
collaborating with the ACP in SSC.
An evolution similar to the one currently occurring in international debates on development
cooperation is taking place at ACP level and is characterized by attempts to institutionalize
SSC and TrC. The institutionalizing of SSC and TrC within ACP’s organizational structures
and future Intra-ACP Programming has been agreed. The ACP Council of Ministers at its
96th Session held in December 2012 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, endorsed the participation
of the ACP Group in SSC and TrC as a priority area and the allocation of appropriate
financing for SSC and TrC activities in the programming of intra-ACP Cooperation under the
11th
EDF. Underlining this shift, in his opening address at the 7th
Summit of ACP Heads of
State and Government in December 2012 President Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea
called for the creation of an organisation for South-South cooperation.
III) Perspectives for practical engagement of the ACP in South-South and
Triangular Cooperation
1) South-South and Triangular Cooperation in the ACP: Cases in point
As exemplified by the cases presented below, SSC and TrC are already a reality in the ACP at
country and region level. Current reflections on SSC and TrC are fostered by case stories and
studies produced, among others, by academic institutions and development practitioners and
brought together on the platform of the TT-SSC for instance. Triangular co-operation’s main
areas of intervention include agriculture, education, employment, energy, environment,
fishery, food security, governance, health and water and sanitation. Examples of successful
implementation of TrC and SSC measures can be found in those diverse sectors. The
programmes presented below succinctly show the rationale behind and the diversity of
successful partnerships forged with ACP countries or regions:
10
− The Programme for South-South Cooperation between Benin, Bhutan, Costa
Rica and the Netherlands15
.
This €9.7M ($13.2M) project is a strategic tripartite sustainable development
partnership between Benin, Bhutan and Costa Rica funded by The Netherlands. It
concentrates on five thematic areas: sustainable tourism, sustainable production and
consumption chains, biodiversity conservation, access to sustainable energy and
energy efficiency, and gender equity. This initiative has yielded 41 separate
programmes and projects to date and has led to the creation of jobs as well as new
business and products. It won the 2010 UNDPs’ South-South Cooperation Award in
the categories ‘Partnership’ and ‘Climate Change Solutions’.
− Technical Cooperation on HIV/AIDS between CARICOM/PANCAP and the
Government of Brazil16
In April 2006, the Government of Brazil signed a 5-year Technical Cooperation
Agreement with CARICOM/PANCAP (Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and
AIDS) to provide technical support in the thematic areas of commodities provision,
institutional strengthening, technical capacity development, youth empowerment and
strengthening civil society organizations. The goal of the Agreement was to reduce the
spread and mitigate the impact of the AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean. The evidence
indicates that tangible gains have accrued to the Caribbean, particularly in the areas of
commodities provision, institutional strengthening and technical capacity
development.
− Trilateral Cooperation (TriCo) Fund with South Africa17
This fund has been set up by Germany and South Africa. Financial resources are used
to fund projects implemented in an African third country. Most activities selected fall
within the following intervention areas: Governance and Administration, Energy and
Climate, and HIV and AIDS Prevention. Four projects are being supported in
Southern Africa: the Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Project in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo; the Fire Management Coordination Project in
Tanzania; the African Ombudsman Research Centre Project in South Africa; and the
Global Economic Governance Project in Africa.
15
See TT-SSC website http://www.southsouthcases.info/casestudies/cslac14.php
16
See TT-SSC website http://www.southsouthcases.info/casestudies/cslac12.php. The breakdown of this €1.69M
($2.3M) by contributing partners is not available. Expenditure related to the supply of Anti-retroviral therapy by
Brazil was reported at €0.59M ($0.8M).
17
Langendorf J., Piefer N., Knodt M., Müller U., Lazaro L. (2012): Triangular Cooperation, A guideline for
working in practice, GIZ publication, pp.125-128. Germany contributes to this fund to the tune of €5M.
Depending on the project, South Africa (at least 30% of the overall project costs) and beneficiary third countries
can provide in-kind and/or financial contributions.
11
− The ProSavana project18
JICA, the Japanese agency for international cooperation, has been involved in this TrC
project between Mozambique, Brazil, and Japan. The aim of this project is to
accelerate agricultural growth in Mozambique by developing improved seeds of
soybean and rice; improving soil health; and, funding roads and other infrastructure.
This project draws on Brazil experience in the Cerrado development which was made
possible by Brazil-Japan cooperation as it created a new body of knowledge on
tropical agriculture in the savannah which can be applied in Mozambique.
− The Better Hospital Service Program in Africa19
This TrC’s network programme involves fifteen African countries, Sri Lanka as a
pivotal country, and Japan. This project aims at improving hospital care in Africa,
using a knowledge package for management change (“5S-KAIZEN-TQM ») which
had been developed in Japan and successfully replicated in other Asian countries. Its
applicability to African contexts was ascertained in the areas of hospital management
and health care quality.
− The Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (TAC)20
The TAC scheme is an alternative to direct financial aid to ACP countries through
sharing Nigerian know-how and expertise on the basis of their assessed and perceived
needs. TAC scheme was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1987 to
assist ACP states in their social-economic development efforts through the
participation of Nigeria experts in various fields
− The Songhaï Center21
The Songhaï Centre is an NGO created in Benin which promotes agricultural
entrepreneurship. This constitutes an innovative integrated system of sustainable
agricultural development which combines a technological and industrial park, an
incubation/training/human resource development centre as well as a service centre for
young entrepreneurs. The Songhai model is being replicated in several African
countries.
18
JICA. (2012): Scaling up South-South and Triangular Cooperation, Tokyo, pp.43-44. ProSavana project
consists of two main phases. The Phase 2 foresees the implementation of strategies and key projects identified
under Phase 1 by mobilizing private capital to finance these activities. Phase 1 has the following three
components: strengthening of domestic technical research (PI), development of an overall strategy for the
Corridor (PD) and an increase in agricultural extension services (PE). The total budget for PI amounts to
€10.79M ($14.68M, 85.9% financed by Brazil and 14.1% by Mozambique). Out of the €5.4M ($7.354M)
allocated to PD, 85% are financed by Japan, 10.9% by Brazil and 4.1% by Mozambique. Little information are
available on PE financing. Figures found in Ekman S-M and Macamo E., New south-south development trends
and African forests Brazilian development cooperation in Mozambique: a scoping study on ProSavana
This project has been acclaimed but has also attracted strong criticisms as one of Prosavana’s components paves
the way for large-scale private capital. The project is thus accused of serving the interests of the ruling party at
the expense of rural communities.
19
JICA (2012): Scaling up South-South and Triangular Cooperation, pp.67-69. The budget for this project has
not been found.
20
See TAC website http://www.tacng.org/. The budget for the TAC programme has not been found.
21 The overall budget has not been found.
12
− The Barefoot College22
This Indian NGO endowed with an annual budget of €1.84M ($2.5M) provides
training to illiterate or semi-literate women originating from developing countries to
become solar engineers, making renewable energy technology and knowledge
accessible and helping to reduce poverty. Between 2004 and 2009, 141 women from
21 African countries received a six month-training. Participants are granted support
from local and international organizations, their own governments as well as Indian
government through Technical and Economic Cooperation grants as part of its SSC
programme.
The challenge for the ACP lies in enabling to unlock its potential and succeed in playing a
major part in SSC and TrC. It is of primary importance to determine in the first place the
scope of the role the ACP could play in SSC and TrC. Indeed, the difference between a
leading and a central role is not simply semantic but has far-reaching implications, notably in
terms of financial and human resources. As a leading entity, the ACP will for instance be
expected to have the capacities to research, analyse and produce independent knowledge from
primary sources, this implying the creation of an ACP Centre of research.
Although it may seem highly desirable to try and turn the ACP into a leading organisation, it
seems however more feasible at this stage to consider transforming it into a central player, an
interface principally. To do so, a multi-level engagement of the ACP through mixed
modalities can realistically be considered. In this prospect, the ACP would function as a hub
and play two main roles: on the one hand a knowledge repository and facilitator, and a full-
fledged development partner of the EU on the other hand.
2) The ACP as a knowledge repository and facilitator
As previously said, the importance of the ACP as a development cooperation player has
formally been re-acknowledged these last years. The ACP does not content itself to being an
umbrella organisation grouping developing countries and regional organisations. As a case in
point, it successfully reinforces current engagements with multilateral organisations such as
the OIF, the Commonwealth Secretariat, UNDP and the FAO. The signing of Memoranda of
Understanding (MoU) with United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)
and Brazil in 2011 also illustrates this recognition. These agreements make provision for
knowledge exchange of relevant information, the MoU between the ACP and Brazil
stipulating furthermore that ACP Member States will have the possibility to submit activity
proposals to Brazil through the ACP Secretariat.
In view of the above, it is suggested that the ACP sets itself up as a dynamic interface.
Global hub
As a transregional organisation that gathers 79 developing countries, has a long-standing
experience in development cooperation and with a large number of key players in this field,
the ACP can logically and legitimately act as an interface shaped as a global hub. As such the
ACP would catalyze new interactions and strengthen existing ones between diverse actors that
22
See Barefoot College website http://www.barefootcollege.org/
13
would be considered as ‘spokes’ and allow for greater harmonization in view of increased
SSC and TrC effectiveness. Knowledge hubs are being developed at national level by
countries such as Brazil, China or Indonesia23
as well as thematic hubs. The logic behind the
creation of an ACP hub would be to have an overarching framework that would enable
rationalizing many existing initiatives and therefore be conducive to a stronger global
cooperation. The dissemination of information between potential recipients and providers that
is inherent to this mechanism will facilitate the cooperation as explained in more details
thereafter. It is nevertheless worth mentioning that whereas strong associations can be forged
between the hub and the various spokes, a hub configuration does not allow for the
development of solid relations between the spokes. In addition, bottlenecks are likely to occur
if the hub capacity is insufficient.
Particular attention should be given to ACP relations with emerging countries’ groupings. The
ACP which is strengthening its connections with emerging countries such as Brazil and India,
may benefit from the dynamism of associations such as BRICS, IBSA (India, Brazil, South
Africa) or CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa) thanks to
South Africa inclusion in them. The Beijing Declaration of July 2011 issued in the context of
the first BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting highlighted the need for technology and
innovation transfer as a means to empower developing countries and foster intra-BRICS
cooperation in the field of public health. Against this backdrop, the BRICS through South
Africa could become a catalyst for the health sector in the ACP24
. Similarly, cooperation
between IBSA and Guinea Bissau in agriculture development25
is already taking place and
could be expanded to interested ACP countries. Opportunities created by such interactions go
well beyond development cooperation and could enable the ACP to play a critical part in
areas such as trade facilitation.
Knowledge repository and Facilitator
Limited information and knowledge are frequently cited as major problems in the context of
SSC and TrC. These shortcomings hamper the articulation of needs by the beneficiary
countries as well as the identification of opportunities and comparative advantages which
would allow recipient countries to select DAC-donors and SSC providers more appropriately
and easily. Case studies showcased online by the TT-SSC, although they provide invaluable
information on ongoing and completed programmes, do not contrast and therefore allow
comparing the concrete added value of each partner in a systematic manner. Following the
principle of open aid, the ACP could become the repository of SSC and TrC-related
knowledge, thereby ensuring development cooperation’s result-orientation, ownership,
transparency, accountability and visibility which are key principles for the ACP. Beyond
simply compiling quantitative data26
, the objective is be to create a learning tool through the
collection of qualitative feedback, lessons learned on the successive programme phases: from
design through implementation to completion. Such a bank of information would be crucial
for policy formulation and decision-making. The knowledge and information could also be
23
http://wbi.worldbank.org/sske/news/build-knowledge-hub
24
If feasible, it is for instance worth considering the participation of the ACP in intra-BRICS cooperation
meetings.
25
See TT-SSC website http://www.southsouthcases.info/casosafrica/caso_20.php
26
The initiative AidData 3.0 in collaboration with OECD, donor agencies and other stakeholders collects,
analyze and publish online project-level aid information. AidData 3.0 presents for each project the following
information: field description, donor and recipient names, commitment year and amount, title, short and long
description.
14
presented in a yearly report on SSC and TrC activities implemented in and involving ACP
countries.
The repository would be coupled with a directory of development cooperation stakeholders in
general, and suppliers in particular, that will not only aggregate but also provide exposure of
what SSC and TrC providers have to offer, technically and financially speaking, and in which
sectors they are engaged or ready to engage27
. This will for instance allow assessing whether
assistance is mainly channelled to productive or to social sectors in an ACP country. This
directory will be most useful owing to the broad range of stakeholders engaged in SSC and
TrC. According to the United Nations Organisation, roughly two thirds of DAC members are
engaged in triangular co-operation, with Japan at the top of the list, followed by Germany and
Spain28
. These three countries’ international cooperation agencies29
have put in place strong
patterns for TrC implementation such as Partnerships Programmes and thematic networks by
Japan, Trilateral Cooperation Funds by Germany or Capacity development programmes by
Spain. Their experience is worth-sharing as some of them have made progress in addressing
rising transaction costs, which is one of TrC main challenges. Spain has indeed streamlined its
procedures while Japan has standardised procedures, prepared operational guidelines and
increased delegation of authority to country offices30
. Such a directory will also give
visibility to South-South Cooperation’s funding mechanisms put in place by MICs or regional
institutions such as IBSA Facility for the Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger, the Egyptian
Fund for Technical Cooperation and the African Development Bank’s South-South
Cooperation Trust Fund.
More than a mere information “collecting box”, the ACP is to play a bridging role by
becoming a conduit. The ultimate goal of this process is to level the playing field in terms of
information, allowing thus all actors to have access to transparent, relevant and systematised
information and to ensure adaptive replication for instance. As a facilitation agent, the role of
the ACP will ideally be as follows:
− Identifying proactively SSC and TrC opportunities for DAC-donors, pivotal and
beneficiary countries
− Connecting/matching demand and supply through a brokering mechanism
In this respect, strong needs assessments being essential to achieving expected results,
the ACP could play an instrumental role in ensuring the quality of the needs
assessments produced and, at a more general level, that beneficiary countries are
systematically involved in SSC and TrC project phases. Assuring the replicability of
the knowledge and technologies planned to be transferred so that the cooperation
established yields relevant results for the beneficiaries31
could be another key task
carried out by the ACP Secretariat.
27
Although the analysis of the motivations of TrC and SSC providers engaged or willing to engage in SSC and
TrC is not the purpose of this paper, it is worth mentioning that aspects of cooperation with developing countries
such as China and Brazil have sparked criticisms. It is therefore worth identifying the limitations of cooperation
patterns. Understanding the each partner’s motivations for engagement can allow recipient countries determine
how to engage in SSC and TrC arrangements in the most beneficial manner.
28
In OECD (2013), Triangular cooperation: what’s the literature telling us, p.17
29
Respectively JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), the GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit) and AECID (Agencia Española para la Cooperación Internacional y el Desarrollo)
30
In OECD (2013): Triangular cooperation: what’s the literature telling us, p.25
31
The testimony of a Mozambican partner about what he learnt from Chinese in the agriculture sector is in this
respect sobering: “I learned some things but at the end everything goes to the garbage because we don’t have the
15
− Assisting stakeholders in developing triangular strategies
This can be particularly beneficial for ACP MICs which already are pivotal countries
in some TrC arrangements, such as South Africa and Kenya. These countries could
more easily gain access to other SSC providers and DAC donors’ experience in order
to establish themselves or consolidate their position as regional and/or continental
development players32
.
Although the ACP has the requisite experience in international cooperation and in dealing
with a large number of actors to be an effective facilitator for SSC and TrC, several issues are
critical to setting up a successful ACP knowledge hub and facilitation mechanism:
− Human and Financial resources
In 2013 an independent evaluation of Intra-ACP Cooperation under the 9th
and 10th
EDF33
indicated that the ACP Secretariat faced challenges in mobilising its staff and dealing with the
workload linked to the implementation of the Intra-ACP cooperation activities. This results
from the ACP Secretariat’s increased involvement in programme and financial management.
Establishing the ACP Secretariat as a knowledge hub and a facilitator in addition to its current
role and responsibilities34
would therefore imply the strengthening of ACP Secretariat
capacity and functionality, and the allocation of sufficient financial resources to do so.
− Pragmatism and Effectiveness
The number and type of actors involved in SSC and TrC is significant as the international
development community comprises, among others, development agencies, international
cooperation or foreign affairs ministries, multilateral organisations, NGOs and foundations.
The multiplicity of stakeholders entails the tailoring of a structured, systematic and cost-
effective information collection and sharing mechanism as opposed to an informal and loose
network, as well as key coordination arrangements that will for instance enable an ACP
database to be linked to existing databases. Albeit challenging, setting up an institutional and
operational matchmaking and dissemination mechanism constitutes one of the surest ways to
scale up SSC and TrC.
Additionally, this mechanism will have to take account of managing for result considerations.
Designing robust methodology and tools to capture knowledge, setting objectives and
indicators as well as drawing up a monitoring and evaluation system will be instrumental in
instilling a culture of knowledge and information sharing and management within the ACP.
means to implement what we learned”. Chichava, S et alii (2013): Brazil and China in Mozambican Agriculture:
emerging insights from the field”, IDS Bulletin 44.4, p.11
32
South African and German governments established a Trilateral Cooperation Fund to assist South Africa in
carrying out coordinated activities contributing to regional and continental development and thereby
strengthening South Africa as a provider of development cooperation.
33
Evaluation of the EDF support through the Intra-ACP Cooperation, Final report, 31 May 2013.
34
As indicated on the ACP Group website, the ACP Secretariat is responsible for: carrying out the tasks assigned
to it by the Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government, Council of Ministers, Committee of Ambassadors
and the ACP Parliamentary Assembly; contributing to the implementation of the decisions of these organs;
monitoring the implementation of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement; assisting the ACP organs and joint
institutions created in the framework of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreements. acting on proposals from the
Committee of Ambassadors, the Council of Ministers determines the structure of the ACP Secretariat and lays
down its Staff Regulations. http://www.acp.int/content/secretariat-acp
16
− Convergence
To allow the ACP facilitator status to be unquestioned and ACP facilitation operations to be
feasible, they will have to be widely accepted as a key contribution to making SSC and TrC
more effective. ACP commitment to these will have to remain firm as well. Ideally,
knowledge sharing will have to be embedded in ACP policies. An increasing number of
mechanisms, platforms and networks on SSC and TrC function in parallel and are not
necessarily coordinated. Indeed, under the umbrella of the United Nations Office for SSC, the
Global South-South Academy, the Global South-South Development Expo and the South-
South Global Assets and Technology Exchange (GATE) service the development community
engaged in SSC and TrC by showcasing and facilitating the transfer of solutions. The Task-
Team on South-South Cooperation (hosted at the OECD-DAC Working Party on Aid
Effectiveness), whose objective is to examine the synergies between SSC and the aid
effectiveness agenda, brings together a network of practitioners on South-South knowledge
exchange and presents case studies on SSC and TrC. The World Bank also supports South-
South knowledge exchange arrangements through a South-South Knowledge Exchange
Facility35
. Some UN agencies such as the United Nations Environment Programme have also
set up exchange mechanisms.
In order to avoid overlapping, confusion and to foster cooperation and coordination instead of
competition between the various partners, the boundaries of the ACP role and prerogatives
will have to be agreed upon at ACP level and with external stakeholders. For instance, as a
facilitator, the ACP may have to remain a neutral player with no decision-making authority
− Areas of intervention
The stature of the ACP as a facilitator will also be linked to its areas of intervention. Is the
ACP willing to conduct facilitation operations in all sectors? Will sectors in which SSC and
TrC are developing and which are currently favoured by the ACP be prioritized? These are
questions that will have to be adequately thought through by the ACP. Instead of dispersing
its efforts in diversification, a concentration of ACP facilitation and knowledge-related
activities on a limited number of areas seems a priori more appropriate. Distinctiveness,
credibility and identification of areas of expertise should guide the ACP in the selection of
their future areas of intervention.
The establishment of an ACP facilitation mechanism and knowledge repository requires to be
further conceptualized. By contrast, SSC and TrC have already been financed under the 10th
EDF and a stronger and unambiguous support to TrC arrangements needs to be provided
under the 11th
EDF and through EU Development Cooperation generally speaking.
3) Enhanced support to South-South and Triangular Cooperation through EU
Development Cooperation
Seizing the opportunities for synergy
Over the years, the EU initiated a series of moves towards TrC. The 2008 EU Communication
titled “The EU, Africa and China: Towards trilateral dialogue and cooperation”36
attests to EU
35
http://wbi.worldbank.org/sske/funding
36
COM(2008)654 final, Commission Communication, 17 October 2008
17
manifest interest in this modality. Likewise, in the context of the EU-Brazil Summit of 4
October 2011, both parties agreed on a strategic partnership in which TrC arrangements with
developing countries were to be explored in health sector, agriculture and food security,
human rights among others. The importance of this cooperation mode is clearly asserted in
this strategic partnership’s Joint Action Plan: “The EU and Brazil attach high importance to
the role of triangular cooperation that should be one of the major areas for the Strategic
Partnership [...] Triangular Cooperation between EU and Brazil in partnership with
developing countries should be promoted as a modality to complement the existing bilateral
cooperation initiatives, as well as leverage knowledge, coherence and additional financial
resources for the benefit of developing countries”37
.
Owing to Global South countries’ increasing engagement in SSC and TrC, and to EU interest
in providing support to them, it is crucial and timely to examine and capitalize on the
possibilities offered by EU financial instruments for external action, the Partnership
Instrument for instance, to catalyze the implementation of TrC arrangements. It is to be noted
that this modality is far from being utterly new for the EU as activities that could be labelled
as TrC programmes were already financed under the 10th
EDF.
Precedents under the 10th
European Development Fund
The Annex IV to the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement which relates specifically to
implementation and management procedures indicates that “regional cooperation shall cover
operations benefiting and involving [...] two or more or all ACP States as well as any non-
ACP developing countries participating in these operations”. In the same vein, supra-regional
cooperation funded under the EDF and also called “Intra-ACP cooperation” is described as
aiming to addressing the “shared challenges facing ACP States through operations that
transcend the concept of geographic location and benefit many or all ACP States”. This
relative openness to developing countries in general within the EDF must be seen as a
window of opportunity for TrC and by consequence SSC.
As the European Commission put it in 2011, “the implementation of programmes at intra-
ACP level encourages regional cross-fertilisation and creates incentives to develop
benchmarking and common approaches to similar situations among ACP countries. Greater
consideration could be given to disseminating good practices that should be replicated where
appropriate. Intra-ACP cooperation acts as a catalyst by launching activities and spearheading
regional dialogue on new development themes or on innovative approaches (e.g. climate
change, commodities, innovative insurance schemes, phytosanitary standards and the EU-
Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund)”38
.
In practice, several programmes fulfilling the conditions for TrC, in particular knowledge
exchange and capacity building activities, have been financed under the 10th
EDF Intra-ACP
cooperation and are being currently implemented. The following examples39
illustrate this
reality.
37 European Union –Brazil Summit, Joint Statement_European Union-Brazil Strategic Partnership, October
2011, p.15
38
SEC(2011) 1055 final, Commission Staff Working Paper, 10th
EDF Performance review, 8 September 2011,
p.36
39
The information relative to Intra-ACP Academic Mobility Scheme, Science and Technology programme and
Hubs and Spokes programme are drawn from respective Financing agreements between the European
Commission and the ACP States
18
− The Intra-ACP Mobility Scheme
The programme provides funds (€30M for the African component and €10M for a
Caribbean and Pacific component) to finance scholarships for students wishing to take
Master and PhD courses in other African/Caribbean and Pacific Universities,
Scholarships for academic and administrative staff to participate in cross country inter-
university exchanges/mobility (these may include teaching, research, training etc) as
well as support to Universities that will be hosting students and
academic/administrative staff. This programme is a shining example of knowledge
exchange between developing countries supported by developed countries.
− The Science and Technology programme
The €40M programme contained two main components: capacity building in the field
of Science and Technology and research actions. Many projects focused on setting up
or strengthening agricultural Science, Technology and Innovation networks, between
research centres and farmers in ACP countries to improve the productivity of local
crops for consumption or export.
− The Hubs and Spokes programme
The €12M Hub and Spokes Programme aims to promote the effective participation of
ACP countries in international trade negotiations and to strengthen their capacities to
formulate, negotiate and implement trade policies. The Commonwealth Secretariat has
mobilised 7 Regional Trade Policy Advisers – commonly known as Hubs – located in
the Regional Economic Communities and 16 Trade Policy Advisers– known as
Spokes – in several ACP countries. The OIF has mobilised 4 Conseillers Régionaux
(Hubs) and 16 Conseillers Nationaux (Spokes). Their mandate is essentially to
strengthen the institutional capacity for implementation of trade policies and
international trade agreements and related activities. This project provides an excellent
example of North-South, South-South and Triangular cooperation.
The independent evaluation on Intra-ACP Cooperation under the 9th
and 10th
EDF concluded
that the programmes providing for the creation of networks and exchanges of experiences
such as those mentioned above had been particularly successful. The support provided has for
instance allowed increasing South-South networks among universities. Institutional capacities
have also been strengthened in the field of science and technology. This constitutes a strong
argument for allocating further funding to SSC and TrC programmes under the 11th
EDF with
a programmatic and systematic approach and not in an ad hoc manner.
Prospects for the 11th
EDF
The three clusters of activities40
that were agreed in the 10th
EDF Intra-ACP strategy, that is
“Global initiatives”, “All-ACP initiatives”, “Pan-African initiatives” are bound to be
overhauled in the upcoming 11th
EDF Intra-ACP strategy. This is due, among other reasons,
to the setting up of a €1 billion Pan African Programme under the European Union budget to
finance the Joint Africa EU strategy-related activities which were previously partially covered
by the Intra-ACP’s Pan-African initiatives cluster. The programming of the 11th
EDF Intra-
ACP can therefore be an opportunity for the European Union and the ACP Group to support
40
In addition, institutional and support expenditure cover the funding of the joint institutions and partial funding
of the ACP Secretariat as well as a Technical Cooperation Facility.
19
different development cooperation approaches and thus show stronger support for the Global
Partnership for development. In view of the above, the ACP Group proposes that SSC and
TrC modalities be given due consideration in the 11th
EDF through funding from Intra-ACP
resources.
The programming and implementation of the above-mentioned programmes proves that TrC
arrangements can effectively and appropriately be included into the Intra-ACP configuration.
In line with the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly resolution on South-South and
Triangular cooperation and in order to best leverage the changing development cooperation
architecture, the ACP Group proposes that a robust TrC policy be incorporated into EU
development cooperation framework and that TrC be deliberately integrated into the 11th
EDF
Intra-ACP strategy. The Intra-ACP cooperation would then be an umbrella under which
South-South cooperation could consistently be accommodated as in the examples presented
above. Reflections regarding the identification of sectors of intervention in the 11th
EDF Intra-
ACP cooperation will also have to be undertaken. It will for instance be key to determine to
what extent areas in which emerging countries such as Brazil have an undeniable added value
(e.g. social protection) can be integrated into the Intra-ACP Strategy and covered by SSC and
TrC programmes.
The rapid evolution of South-South cooperation over the past years has opened a window of
opportunities for developing countries that can now turn to such a cooperation modality, in
addition to traditional North-South cooperation, as a means towards achieving internationally
agreed development goals, including the MDGs and fulfilling the post-2015 agenda41
.
Securing financing of TrC programmes under the 11th
EDF Intra-ACP cooperation and
through EU development cooperation in general would contribute to bridging the divide
between North-South and South-South cooperation and therefore allow the 79 ACP Member
States to fully enjoy the opportunities offered by all approaches.
41
In the ACP Declaration on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (28 November 2013), SSC and TrC are
presented as “a catalyst for diversifying and transforming the economies of ACP countries and therefore
contribute to the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda”. The Co-Chairs of the Open Working
Group on Sustainable Development Goals mentioned the importance of SSC and TrC in its 6th
session held on 13
December 2013. The Open Working Group of the United Nations’ Assembly General is tasked with preparing a
proposal on the Sustainable Development Goals.
20
Concluding remarks
The end of the 20th
century and the beginning of the 21st
century have been marked by
dramatic economic and geopolitical changes. Open knowledge adds up to those and is one of
the key shifts transforming development cooperation. This is now allowing developing
countries to not simply accept solutions handed down to them by developed countries. They
now also get inspiration and technical knowledge from successful emerging economies in the
South while remaining open to the practical know-how from the North. SSC as a whole
constitutes a driving force for growth. This should however not lead to the downgrading of
the relationship between developing countries and DAC donors which has been nurtured for
decades. SSC and TrC contain a creative force that requires being unleashed and a potential
that needs to be unlocked. International support can help ACP Member States and developing
countries as a whole to fully enjoy the opportunities that both modalities offer. The ACP
Group proactivity in advancing SSC and TrC agenda proves its willingness and legitimacy to
harness the current formidable energy towards these modalities.
The ACP is also keen to become instrumental in SSC and TrC in a practical way. As a
knowledge repository and a facilitator, the ACP will contribute to expanding knowledge
sources on development and thus to optimising the actions currently carried out by the
stakeholders involved in SSC and TrC activities. Moreover, the programming of EU funds for
the period 2014-2020 is an opportunity to promote and financially support SSC and TrC that
must be seized. Indeed “given past experience, EU institutional actors and member states now
have the opportunity to apply lessons learned and prepare European development policy for
the political-economic and social realities of least developed countries, more developed
countries, transition and conflict affected countries and regions of the 21st century”42
. In this
sense, TrC can allow Intra-ACP cooperation in the true sense of the word to reach its full
potential.
The development community is on the learning curve as regards SSC and TrC. To ensure that
an adequately structured and long-lasting model comes into being, the development
community must join forces to build a strong coalition for success. Concerted actions are
needed to assure that SSC and TrC will not be considered in the future as outdated buzz words
but as sustainable, result-oriented and effective models of collaborative development
cooperation.
42
Görtz, S. and Keijzer N. (2012): Reprogramming EU development cooperation for 2014-2020 - Key moments
for partner countries, EU Delegations, member states and headquarters in 2012. (ECDPM Discussion Paper 129)
– p.11
21
References
10th
Ministerial Meeting of the ACP NAOs and RAOs, South-South and Triangular
cooperation: Opportunities and Challenges, April 17-18 2013 (ACP Group internal
document).
ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Resolution on South-South cooperation and
triangular cooperation: Opportunities and challenges for the ACP countries, ACP-
EU/101.516/13/fin, 27 November 2013. Accessible under:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/intcoop/acp/2013_addis/pdf/101.516_en.pdf
ACP-EU Partnership Agreement (2010). Accessible under:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/acp/overview/documents/devco-cotonou-consol-europe-
aid-2012_en.pdf
AECID (2009): AECID’s Approach and experience in Triangular cooperation in Latin
America and the Caribbean, Policy Dialogue on Development Cooperation, Mexico City, 28-
29 September 2009. Accessible under: http://www.oecd.org/dac/43878483.pdf
AECID (2010): Triangular Co-operation in the Context of Aid Effectiveness – Experiences
and Views of EU Donors, Concept note of Workshop organised by AECID, Madrid, 8-10
March. Accessible under:
http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/files/europa_only/featured_triangular_co-
operation_concept_note_20100309.pdf
BMZ (2013e): Triangular Cooperation in German Development Cooperation, BMZ Strategy
Paper.
Busan Partnership Document (2011). Accessible under:
http://www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness/49650173.pdf
Chichava, S., Duran, J., Cabral, L., Shankland, A., Buckley, L., Lixia, T., Yue, Z. (2013):
Brazil and China in Mozambican Agriculture: emerging insights from the field, IDS Bulletin
44.4
Council of the European Union, SEC(2011) 1055 final, Commission Staff Working Paper,
10th
EDF Performance review, 8 September 2011, Brussels.
Council of the European Union, European Union –Brazil Summit, Joint Statement_European
Union-Brazil Strategic Partnership, October 2011. Accessible under:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/124878.pdf
ECDPM (February 2011): ACP Group considers role in South-South and Triangular
cooperation, ECDPM talking points. Accessible under: http://www.ecdpm-
talkingpoints.org/acp-group-considers-role-in-south-south-and-triangular-
cooperation/#sthash.bZHmrK0F.dpuf
European Commission, Evaluation of the EDF support through the Intra-ACP Cooperation,
Final report, 31 May 2013. Evaluation carried out by Safege-Cowi.
22
First High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-
operation’s Communiqué, Mexico, 16 April 2014. Accessible under:
http://effectivecooperation.org/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2014/04/ENG_FinalConsensusMexicoHLMCommunique.pdf
Fordelone, T.Y. (2009): Triangular Cooperation and Aid Effectiveness. Can Triangular Co-
operation Make Aid More Effective?, Policy Dialogue on Development Co-operation’s
Working Paper, Mexico 28-29 September 2009.
Fordelone, T.Y. (2013): Triangular cooperation: what’s the literature telling us, OECD
publication.
Görtz, S. and Keijzer, N. (2012): Reprogramming EU development cooperation for 2014-
2020 - Key moments for partner countries, EU Delegations, member states and headquarters
in 2012. (ECDPM Discussion Paper 129).
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) (2012): Scaling up South-South and
Triangular Cooperation, Conference volume.
Langendorf J., Piefer N., Knodt M., Müller U., Lazaro L. (2012): Triangular Cooperation, A
guideline for working in practice. GIZ publication.
Dr Müller, U. (2010): Triangular Cooperation in Practice, GTZ experience. Accessible under:
http://api.ning.com/files/eXUcGJnS-
REJLoWY2kC9lgFu*5riNm7VyFDdyQ3STEa1knItj*1JFpV0ucWYaWizvg3ZOaglearVVSU
SbdupbBuSYhNZHZFI/GTZ_TriCoopinPractice.pdf
Schulz, N.-S. (2010): Boosting South-South cooperation in the context of Aid effectiveness.
Telling the story of partners in 110 cases of South-South and Triangular cooperation, OECD
publication. Accessible under:
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/14/63/46080462.pdf.
The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) and the Accra Agenda for Action (2008).
Accessible under http://www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness/34428351.pdf.

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South-South and Triangular Cooperation_Working Paper

  • 1. Promoting Effective Development Cooperation: The role of the ACP Group in South-South and Triangular Cooperation Working Paper Dr. Carine Nsoudou, International Consultant Brussels, May 2014
  • 2. 2 Contents List of Abbreviations............................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 4 I) Background and Context: Poverty reduction and sustainable development at the core of the ACP Group ............................................................................................................................................ 5 1) The Georgetown and Cotonou Agreements ................................................................................ 5 2) The European Development Fund and the co-management with the European Union............... 5 3) The ACP Group’s comparative advantages ................................................................................ 6 II) ACP involvement in the Post-Busan Global Partnership .......................................................... 7 1) The evolution of the aid effectiveness debate ............................................................................. 7 2) A growing ACP commitment to South-South and Triangular Cooperation................................ 8 III) Perspectives for practical engagement of the ACP in South-South and Triangular Cooperation............................................................................................................................................ 9 1) South-South and Triangular Cooperation in the ACP: Cases in point ........................................ 9 2) The ACP as a knowledge repository and facilitator.................................................................. 12 3) Enhanced support to South-South and Triangular Cooperation through EU Development Cooperation ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Concluding remarks............................................................................................................................ 20 References ............................................................................................................................................ 21
  • 3. 3 List of Abbreviations AAA Accra Agenda for Action ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa DAC Development Assistance Committee EDF European Development Fund EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation IBSA India, Brazil, South Africa LDC Least DevelopedCountry MDGs Millennium Development Goals MIC Middle Income Country MoU Memorandum of Understanding OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OIF Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie SSC South-South Cooperation TrC Triangular Cooperation TriCo Trilateral Cooperation Fund TT-SSC Task Team on South-South Cooperation UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization
  • 4. 4 Introduction The world is changing rapidly, so is development cooperation landscape. This dramatic shift is occurring notably due to the surge of South-South cooperation over the last two decades. If trade and direct investment are often presented as the main areas of cooperation between Global South countries, an increase in partnerships is also being witnessed in development cooperation. The Global South has become a full-fledged actor on the global development scene and the emergence of new economies has ushered in a promising era in this regard. Although in the past decades millions of people have been lifted out of poverty in developing countries, sustainable development and poverty reduction remain ambitious challenges that can only be overcome by the structural transformation of developing countries. Frustrations with the mainstream donor-recipient model of development cooperation are related to the provision of solutions that are not always relevant to beneficiary countries. Economic, technological and development paths’ similarities between Middle Income Countries (MICs), notably emerging economies, and less developed countries allow for a greater potential of adaptation of solutions offered by the more technically advanced group among developing countries. Geographical proximity, cultural and historical ties also constitute potential advantages. The current enthusiasm within the international development community for South-South Cooperation (SSC) and Triangular Cooperation (TrC), a “partnership between DAC-donors1 and providers of SSC2 to implement development cooperation projects in beneficiary countries”3 , may be an indicator signaling the direction development cooperation is heading: a more collaborative approach, based on funds, expertise and knowledge sharing. A critical mass of MICs seems committed to leveraging their expertise, resources and knowledge, and to sharing them with developing countries through South-South and Triangular arrangements. SSC and TrC are increasingly seen as relevant and perhaps more effective instruments for poverty reduction. The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group), because of its history, the size of and diversity in its membership as well as its vast experience in development cooperation is willing to become a key player in SSC and TrC. But faced with a multiplicity of stakeholders, a growing number of platforms dedicated to SSC and TrC, and the many potential sectors of engagement, how can the ACP Group and its Member States most actively and effectively engage in these modalities? The purpose of this working paper is to lay the groundwork for an ACP Position Paper. It argues that the ACP can play a central role in SSC and TrC by leveraging its comparative advantages and transforming itself into an indispensable interface; thus making its mark in the development cooperation landscape. 1 Multilateral organisations can also partner with providers of SSC 2 Also called “pivotal countries” 3 Langendorf J., Piefer N., Knodt M., Müller U., Lazaro L. (2012): Triangular Cooperation, A guideline for working in practice, pp.25-26. This definition is a narrow understanding of the term. A broader understanding can encompass as diverse activities as regional programmes, dialogue platforms or horizontal learning networks as indicated in this book.
  • 5. 5 I) Background and Context: Poverty reduction and sustainable development at the core of the ACP Group Several factors, including the ACP Group’s objectives, composition and expertise, contribute to making relevant and even necessary a role of the ACP in SSC and TrC. 1) The Georgetown and Cotonou Agreements The cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, henceforth the ACP Group, dates back to the mid-1970s. The ACP Group which was established in 1975 by the Georgetown Agreement signed the same year its first partnership with the EU, the Lomé Convention. The successive Lomé Conventions and their successor, the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, or Cotonou Agreement, concluded in 2000 for 20 years constitute the legal bases for this cooperation. The Cotonou Agreement, which is the largest North-South Partnership as it currently comprises 78 out of 79 ACP countries4 and 27 EU Member States, rests on three pillars: (i) development cooperation mainly financed from the European Development Fund (EDF), (ii) trade and economic cooperation as well as (iii) political dimension characterised by political dialogue. The partnership through this innovative approach aims at “reducing and eventually eradicating poverty consistent with the objectives of sustainable development and the gradual integration of the ACP countries into the global economy”, as explicitly stated in the Cotonou Agreement5 . Both agreements share an unrestricted approach. Indeed, far from being exclusive, the relations between the EU and the ACP Group have left some room for non-ACP developing countries. The development of trade, economic and cultural relations amongst ACP States, and amongst developing countries as a whole, through the development of information exchanges in the fields of trade, technology, industry and human resources was already enshrined in the Georgetown Agreement. In the same vein, when addressing regional cooperation and integration, the Cotonou Agreement stipulates that this cooperation “shall also support inter-regional and intra-ACP cooperation such as that involving: (c) non-ACP developing countries”6 . Without explicitly mentioning them, these “openings” pave the way for South-South and Triangular Cooperation. 2) The European Development Fund and the co-management with the European Union Based on mutual obligations, rights and shared principles, the ACP-EU Partnership is also characterised by an ACP-EU joint management of the European funds dedicated to development cooperation in the ACP. The ACP is involved at all levels of the aid programming process: ACP States at national level, regional organisations at regional level, and the ACP Group at Intra-ACP level. The Intra-ACP cooperation7 as it addresses the common challenges facing ACP States that transcend the concept of geographical location is of particular importance in the context of SSC and TrC. 4 The Cotonou Agreement has not been signed by Cuba. 5 ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, Title 1, Chapter 1, Article 1, 2010 6 ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, Section 3, Article 28, 2010, p.40-41 7 Such cooperation falls into three main areas: global initiatives, “all-ACP” initiatives and pan-African initiatives.
  • 6. 6 The cooperation at Intra-ACP level which added up to €2.7 billion under the 10th EDF (against €2.884 billion under the 9th EDF) is consistent with EU commitment to ensuring ownership by associating the ACP Group to the programming process. As a case in point, under the 10th EDF the intra-ACP cooperation strategy and multiannual indicative programme were jointly elaborated by the European Commission and the ACP Secretariat services8 . Annual intra-ACP action programmes were drawn up after the identification and the appraisal of relevant and mature programmes by the ACP Secretariat and the European Commission. Besides developing a significant expertise in EU funds management, the ACP gained valuable experience in negotiation, programming, programme management, and in dealing with a vast array of partners at national, regional and global levels. 3) The ACP Group’s comparative advantages The ACP Group presents a set of features that confers value to its engagement in SSC and TrC. Firstly, the internal diversity of the ACP Group in terms of economic development level, population and size of its Member States should not solely be seen as a potential constraint for the cohesion of the group but also as an undeniable asset for SSC and TrC. This Global South’s heterogeneous grouping actually provides ACP countries and regions, and the developing world as a whole, with opportunities to exchange valuable experiences. The transregional nature of the ACP Group has the potential to allow studying the possibilities for adoption and adaptation of specific national and regional policies, strategies or simply programmes in other contexts. Secondly, from over 30 years of structured engagement with the EU, mainly through planning and programming of EDF resources, the ACP secretariat has acquired longstanding negotiating and project formulation capacity. The accumulated experience of the ACP Group and countries in programming funds allocated by the EU for development cooperation in the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and in participating in the successive High Level Fora on Aid Effectiveness has endowed the ACP Group with a comparative advantage for South- South Cooperation. The Group possesses specialized knowledge and development management experience on which to draw for the benefit of Member States and developing countries as a whole. This human and organizational capital should be effectively invested to improve the effectiveness of traditional donor-recipient approaches. Moreover, that accrued knowledge and experience was also derived from working with a wide spectrum of international, regional and private contracting agencies for Intra-ACP Development Cooperation, in a very large number of sectors, and supporting various international initiatives. For instance, under the 10th EDF Intra-ACP cooperation, the ACP and the EU invested in the health sector through the Global Fund to fight Aids, Turberculosis and Malaria and GAVI Alliance. They also collaborated with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) on a trade policy-related programme and supported the IMF regarding a Tax Policy and Administration programme to name a few. 8 They are afterwards presented to ACP and EU decision-making bodies for adoption and signed by the Commissioner responsible for Development and the Chair of the Committee of ACP Ambassadors.
  • 7. 7 The ACP Group should therefore capitalize on its specificities and the above-mentioned comparative advantages to determine its future role and the practical modalities of its engagement in SSC and TrC. These will also hinge on whether the ACP will keep contributing to the momentum towards a new development paradigm. II) ACP involvement in the Post-Busan Global Partnership 1) The evolution of the aid effectiveness debate Development aid failure to produce expected results and the necessity to increase efforts with a view to achieving the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) led to the formulation of a set of principles aimed at stepping up aid effectiveness. Three landmark events constitute milestones in the journey towards enhancing aid delivery: the High Level Fora on Aid Effectiveness held in Rome in 2003, in Paris in 2005 and in Accra in 20089 . The latest of these fora took place in Busan (South Korea) in 2011. The acknowledgement of SSC in the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA) provided the opportunity for assessing the complementarities between SSC and TrC on one side and the Aid Effectiveness agenda on the other side. South-South Cooperation, a framework for collaboration and exchanges of knowledge, skills, resources and technologies between countries of the Global South can prove successful where traditional development cooperation fails to produce all expected results. The horizontal partnerships forged are based on trust, equity and mutual learning. In this paradigm, these horizontal partnerships centred on the ideas of knowledge and best practices sharing impose themselves as a complement to traditional development cooperation model. These modes of cooperation allow for instance developing countries to benefit from the experience of countries such as Brazil and Chile which gained success in the fight against HIV/AIDS or in implementing social protection programmes. If Global South countries, in particular MICs from Africa, Asia and Latin America10 , but increasingly Least Developed Countries (LDCs), are taking centre stage in these partnerships of a new type, traditional donors engaged in TrC or supporting South-South arrangements are not on the losing end. Their cooperation with thriving new development partners enables them to improve their own effectiveness, to “maintain influence, increase visibility, and to overcome the sense of competition”11 . This recognition triggered a whole process which saw, among others, the birth of the Task- Team on SSC (TT-SSC) in 2009. The critical need for lessons learned has prompted the emergence of platforms of exchanges such as the South-South Knowledge Exchange which has been joined by driven practitioners and researchers. As a follow up to AAA, the Outcome document of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness held in Busan in 2011, or Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, acknowledged SSC as an important development cooperation modality particularly under the aegis of MICs12 . It 9 The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005) and the Accra Agenda for Action (2008): http://www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness/34428351.pdf 10 Some countries have emerged as new development partners: Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa in Africa, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam in Asia, and Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico in Latin America. This list is not exhaustive. 11 Langendorf J., Piefer N., Knodt M., Müller U., Lazaro L. (2012): Triangular Cooperation, A guideline for working in practice. GIZ publication. 12 10th Ministerial Meeting of the ACP NAOs and RAOs: April 17-18 2013, South-South and Triangular cooperation: Opportunities and Challenges
  • 8. 8 pledged to “broaden support for South-South and triangular co-operation, helping to tailor these horizontal partnerships to a greater diversity of country contexts and needs”13 . Resulting from this shift in perspective, SSC and TrC became an integral part of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation. Along with issues relating to the implementation of Busan commitments, domestic resources mobilization or Middle Income Countries, SSC, TrC and Knowledge-sharing took centre stage at the First High Level meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation that was held on 15-16 April 2014 in Mexico and was attended by ACP Group representatives. Plenary and focus sessions highlighted these modalities’ positive impact and called for an increase in and a strengthening of SSC and TrC as well as the quality improvement of activities implemented through these modalites. The important role of knowledge-sharing was consistently underscored during the meeting and was further stressed in the High Level Meeting Communiqué which called for the “development of networks for knowledge exchange, peer learning and coordination among all development partners”14 . This enabling context provides opportunities for the ACP Group to play a significant role as a central organisation in the shaping of a new development paradigm endowed with modalities complementing the North-South cooperation model. 2) A growing ACP commitment to South-South and Triangular Cooperation A major expression of ACP’s awareness of this rethinking and the importance to be proactive were expressed by the convening of the ACP-OIF (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie) Symposium on South-South Cooperation that was held on 31 January 2011. The Symposium included participation of Brazil and India’s Development Cooperation Agencies as well as presentation of case studies by ACP Member States of Cuba, Nigeria and South Africa demonstrating the longstanding practice and thematic areas successfully addressed by South-South Cooperation. At the 2011 Symposium interventions made by the European Commission, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries also highlighted the scope and interest to collaborate with the ACP on SSC. A particularly tangible output of the January 2011 Symposium was the significant step forward through the subsequent signing of an Memorandum of Understanding between the ACP Secretariat and Brazil for technical cooperation exchanges and capacity building on food security policy analysis and monitoring. This is a concrete example of translating South-South Cooperation into practice. The presence of an ACP Delegation at the UN Conference on LDCs in Istanbul (Turkey) in April 2011 was further evidence of the intention to broaden the engagement of ACP on development cooperation affecting all LDCs. The close collaboration of ACP with the OIF as a member of the TT-SSC was instrumental in having the ACP Group incorporated as a member of the Building Block on South-South and Triangular Cooperation 13 Busan Partnership Document (2011). Accessible under: http://www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness/49650173.pdf 14 “Knowledge sharing can involve North-South, South-North, South-South and triangular and regional approaches including the engagement of public and private stakeholders and the valuable support of multilateral organizations. We encourage the development of networks for knowledge exchange, peer learning and coordination among all development partners”. First High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation’s Communiqué, Mexico, 16 April 2014, p.5
  • 9. 9 that emerged at the Busan Forum with a mandate to formulate a proposal for a horizontal partnership for better development outcomes. As a follow up to the 2011 Symposium, the ACP Group organised a second Symposium on South-South and Triangular Cooperation on 25 March 2014. This event saw the participation of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the OIF and the European Commission which expressed their positions as regards SSC and TrC. The representatives of the ACP Member States of Benin, Fiji, Mozambique, and Trinidad and Tobago presented flagship SSC and TrC programmes involving their respective countries. During this Symposium, the importance of SSC and TrC in development cooperation was reasserted as well as the need for the ACP to harness the comparative advantages of development cooperation partners increasingly diverse. The necessity for the ACP to play a role in SSC and TrC, in order, among others, not to be marginalised in the development cooperation landscape, was further emphasized. Views were exchanged on a consultant’s proposal to transform the ACP into a SSC and TrC knowledge repository and facilitator. The FAO further indicated its keen interest in collaborating with the ACP in SSC. An evolution similar to the one currently occurring in international debates on development cooperation is taking place at ACP level and is characterized by attempts to institutionalize SSC and TrC. The institutionalizing of SSC and TrC within ACP’s organizational structures and future Intra-ACP Programming has been agreed. The ACP Council of Ministers at its 96th Session held in December 2012 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, endorsed the participation of the ACP Group in SSC and TrC as a priority area and the allocation of appropriate financing for SSC and TrC activities in the programming of intra-ACP Cooperation under the 11th EDF. Underlining this shift, in his opening address at the 7th Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government in December 2012 President Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea called for the creation of an organisation for South-South cooperation. III) Perspectives for practical engagement of the ACP in South-South and Triangular Cooperation 1) South-South and Triangular Cooperation in the ACP: Cases in point As exemplified by the cases presented below, SSC and TrC are already a reality in the ACP at country and region level. Current reflections on SSC and TrC are fostered by case stories and studies produced, among others, by academic institutions and development practitioners and brought together on the platform of the TT-SSC for instance. Triangular co-operation’s main areas of intervention include agriculture, education, employment, energy, environment, fishery, food security, governance, health and water and sanitation. Examples of successful implementation of TrC and SSC measures can be found in those diverse sectors. The programmes presented below succinctly show the rationale behind and the diversity of successful partnerships forged with ACP countries or regions:
  • 10. 10 − The Programme for South-South Cooperation between Benin, Bhutan, Costa Rica and the Netherlands15 . This €9.7M ($13.2M) project is a strategic tripartite sustainable development partnership between Benin, Bhutan and Costa Rica funded by The Netherlands. It concentrates on five thematic areas: sustainable tourism, sustainable production and consumption chains, biodiversity conservation, access to sustainable energy and energy efficiency, and gender equity. This initiative has yielded 41 separate programmes and projects to date and has led to the creation of jobs as well as new business and products. It won the 2010 UNDPs’ South-South Cooperation Award in the categories ‘Partnership’ and ‘Climate Change Solutions’. − Technical Cooperation on HIV/AIDS between CARICOM/PANCAP and the Government of Brazil16 In April 2006, the Government of Brazil signed a 5-year Technical Cooperation Agreement with CARICOM/PANCAP (Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS) to provide technical support in the thematic areas of commodities provision, institutional strengthening, technical capacity development, youth empowerment and strengthening civil society organizations. The goal of the Agreement was to reduce the spread and mitigate the impact of the AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean. The evidence indicates that tangible gains have accrued to the Caribbean, particularly in the areas of commodities provision, institutional strengthening and technical capacity development. − Trilateral Cooperation (TriCo) Fund with South Africa17 This fund has been set up by Germany and South Africa. Financial resources are used to fund projects implemented in an African third country. Most activities selected fall within the following intervention areas: Governance and Administration, Energy and Climate, and HIV and AIDS Prevention. Four projects are being supported in Southern Africa: the Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the Fire Management Coordination Project in Tanzania; the African Ombudsman Research Centre Project in South Africa; and the Global Economic Governance Project in Africa. 15 See TT-SSC website http://www.southsouthcases.info/casestudies/cslac14.php 16 See TT-SSC website http://www.southsouthcases.info/casestudies/cslac12.php. The breakdown of this €1.69M ($2.3M) by contributing partners is not available. Expenditure related to the supply of Anti-retroviral therapy by Brazil was reported at €0.59M ($0.8M). 17 Langendorf J., Piefer N., Knodt M., Müller U., Lazaro L. (2012): Triangular Cooperation, A guideline for working in practice, GIZ publication, pp.125-128. Germany contributes to this fund to the tune of €5M. Depending on the project, South Africa (at least 30% of the overall project costs) and beneficiary third countries can provide in-kind and/or financial contributions.
  • 11. 11 − The ProSavana project18 JICA, the Japanese agency for international cooperation, has been involved in this TrC project between Mozambique, Brazil, and Japan. The aim of this project is to accelerate agricultural growth in Mozambique by developing improved seeds of soybean and rice; improving soil health; and, funding roads and other infrastructure. This project draws on Brazil experience in the Cerrado development which was made possible by Brazil-Japan cooperation as it created a new body of knowledge on tropical agriculture in the savannah which can be applied in Mozambique. − The Better Hospital Service Program in Africa19 This TrC’s network programme involves fifteen African countries, Sri Lanka as a pivotal country, and Japan. This project aims at improving hospital care in Africa, using a knowledge package for management change (“5S-KAIZEN-TQM ») which had been developed in Japan and successfully replicated in other Asian countries. Its applicability to African contexts was ascertained in the areas of hospital management and health care quality. − The Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (TAC)20 The TAC scheme is an alternative to direct financial aid to ACP countries through sharing Nigerian know-how and expertise on the basis of their assessed and perceived needs. TAC scheme was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1987 to assist ACP states in their social-economic development efforts through the participation of Nigeria experts in various fields − The Songhaï Center21 The Songhaï Centre is an NGO created in Benin which promotes agricultural entrepreneurship. This constitutes an innovative integrated system of sustainable agricultural development which combines a technological and industrial park, an incubation/training/human resource development centre as well as a service centre for young entrepreneurs. The Songhai model is being replicated in several African countries. 18 JICA. (2012): Scaling up South-South and Triangular Cooperation, Tokyo, pp.43-44. ProSavana project consists of two main phases. The Phase 2 foresees the implementation of strategies and key projects identified under Phase 1 by mobilizing private capital to finance these activities. Phase 1 has the following three components: strengthening of domestic technical research (PI), development of an overall strategy for the Corridor (PD) and an increase in agricultural extension services (PE). The total budget for PI amounts to €10.79M ($14.68M, 85.9% financed by Brazil and 14.1% by Mozambique). Out of the €5.4M ($7.354M) allocated to PD, 85% are financed by Japan, 10.9% by Brazil and 4.1% by Mozambique. Little information are available on PE financing. Figures found in Ekman S-M and Macamo E., New south-south development trends and African forests Brazilian development cooperation in Mozambique: a scoping study on ProSavana This project has been acclaimed but has also attracted strong criticisms as one of Prosavana’s components paves the way for large-scale private capital. The project is thus accused of serving the interests of the ruling party at the expense of rural communities. 19 JICA (2012): Scaling up South-South and Triangular Cooperation, pp.67-69. The budget for this project has not been found. 20 See TAC website http://www.tacng.org/. The budget for the TAC programme has not been found. 21 The overall budget has not been found.
  • 12. 12 − The Barefoot College22 This Indian NGO endowed with an annual budget of €1.84M ($2.5M) provides training to illiterate or semi-literate women originating from developing countries to become solar engineers, making renewable energy technology and knowledge accessible and helping to reduce poverty. Between 2004 and 2009, 141 women from 21 African countries received a six month-training. Participants are granted support from local and international organizations, their own governments as well as Indian government through Technical and Economic Cooperation grants as part of its SSC programme. The challenge for the ACP lies in enabling to unlock its potential and succeed in playing a major part in SSC and TrC. It is of primary importance to determine in the first place the scope of the role the ACP could play in SSC and TrC. Indeed, the difference between a leading and a central role is not simply semantic but has far-reaching implications, notably in terms of financial and human resources. As a leading entity, the ACP will for instance be expected to have the capacities to research, analyse and produce independent knowledge from primary sources, this implying the creation of an ACP Centre of research. Although it may seem highly desirable to try and turn the ACP into a leading organisation, it seems however more feasible at this stage to consider transforming it into a central player, an interface principally. To do so, a multi-level engagement of the ACP through mixed modalities can realistically be considered. In this prospect, the ACP would function as a hub and play two main roles: on the one hand a knowledge repository and facilitator, and a full- fledged development partner of the EU on the other hand. 2) The ACP as a knowledge repository and facilitator As previously said, the importance of the ACP as a development cooperation player has formally been re-acknowledged these last years. The ACP does not content itself to being an umbrella organisation grouping developing countries and regional organisations. As a case in point, it successfully reinforces current engagements with multilateral organisations such as the OIF, the Commonwealth Secretariat, UNDP and the FAO. The signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and Brazil in 2011 also illustrates this recognition. These agreements make provision for knowledge exchange of relevant information, the MoU between the ACP and Brazil stipulating furthermore that ACP Member States will have the possibility to submit activity proposals to Brazil through the ACP Secretariat. In view of the above, it is suggested that the ACP sets itself up as a dynamic interface. Global hub As a transregional organisation that gathers 79 developing countries, has a long-standing experience in development cooperation and with a large number of key players in this field, the ACP can logically and legitimately act as an interface shaped as a global hub. As such the ACP would catalyze new interactions and strengthen existing ones between diverse actors that 22 See Barefoot College website http://www.barefootcollege.org/
  • 13. 13 would be considered as ‘spokes’ and allow for greater harmonization in view of increased SSC and TrC effectiveness. Knowledge hubs are being developed at national level by countries such as Brazil, China or Indonesia23 as well as thematic hubs. The logic behind the creation of an ACP hub would be to have an overarching framework that would enable rationalizing many existing initiatives and therefore be conducive to a stronger global cooperation. The dissemination of information between potential recipients and providers that is inherent to this mechanism will facilitate the cooperation as explained in more details thereafter. It is nevertheless worth mentioning that whereas strong associations can be forged between the hub and the various spokes, a hub configuration does not allow for the development of solid relations between the spokes. In addition, bottlenecks are likely to occur if the hub capacity is insufficient. Particular attention should be given to ACP relations with emerging countries’ groupings. The ACP which is strengthening its connections with emerging countries such as Brazil and India, may benefit from the dynamism of associations such as BRICS, IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) or CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa) thanks to South Africa inclusion in them. The Beijing Declaration of July 2011 issued in the context of the first BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting highlighted the need for technology and innovation transfer as a means to empower developing countries and foster intra-BRICS cooperation in the field of public health. Against this backdrop, the BRICS through South Africa could become a catalyst for the health sector in the ACP24 . Similarly, cooperation between IBSA and Guinea Bissau in agriculture development25 is already taking place and could be expanded to interested ACP countries. Opportunities created by such interactions go well beyond development cooperation and could enable the ACP to play a critical part in areas such as trade facilitation. Knowledge repository and Facilitator Limited information and knowledge are frequently cited as major problems in the context of SSC and TrC. These shortcomings hamper the articulation of needs by the beneficiary countries as well as the identification of opportunities and comparative advantages which would allow recipient countries to select DAC-donors and SSC providers more appropriately and easily. Case studies showcased online by the TT-SSC, although they provide invaluable information on ongoing and completed programmes, do not contrast and therefore allow comparing the concrete added value of each partner in a systematic manner. Following the principle of open aid, the ACP could become the repository of SSC and TrC-related knowledge, thereby ensuring development cooperation’s result-orientation, ownership, transparency, accountability and visibility which are key principles for the ACP. Beyond simply compiling quantitative data26 , the objective is be to create a learning tool through the collection of qualitative feedback, lessons learned on the successive programme phases: from design through implementation to completion. Such a bank of information would be crucial for policy formulation and decision-making. The knowledge and information could also be 23 http://wbi.worldbank.org/sske/news/build-knowledge-hub 24 If feasible, it is for instance worth considering the participation of the ACP in intra-BRICS cooperation meetings. 25 See TT-SSC website http://www.southsouthcases.info/casosafrica/caso_20.php 26 The initiative AidData 3.0 in collaboration with OECD, donor agencies and other stakeholders collects, analyze and publish online project-level aid information. AidData 3.0 presents for each project the following information: field description, donor and recipient names, commitment year and amount, title, short and long description.
  • 14. 14 presented in a yearly report on SSC and TrC activities implemented in and involving ACP countries. The repository would be coupled with a directory of development cooperation stakeholders in general, and suppliers in particular, that will not only aggregate but also provide exposure of what SSC and TrC providers have to offer, technically and financially speaking, and in which sectors they are engaged or ready to engage27 . This will for instance allow assessing whether assistance is mainly channelled to productive or to social sectors in an ACP country. This directory will be most useful owing to the broad range of stakeholders engaged in SSC and TrC. According to the United Nations Organisation, roughly two thirds of DAC members are engaged in triangular co-operation, with Japan at the top of the list, followed by Germany and Spain28 . These three countries’ international cooperation agencies29 have put in place strong patterns for TrC implementation such as Partnerships Programmes and thematic networks by Japan, Trilateral Cooperation Funds by Germany or Capacity development programmes by Spain. Their experience is worth-sharing as some of them have made progress in addressing rising transaction costs, which is one of TrC main challenges. Spain has indeed streamlined its procedures while Japan has standardised procedures, prepared operational guidelines and increased delegation of authority to country offices30 . Such a directory will also give visibility to South-South Cooperation’s funding mechanisms put in place by MICs or regional institutions such as IBSA Facility for the Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger, the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation and the African Development Bank’s South-South Cooperation Trust Fund. More than a mere information “collecting box”, the ACP is to play a bridging role by becoming a conduit. The ultimate goal of this process is to level the playing field in terms of information, allowing thus all actors to have access to transparent, relevant and systematised information and to ensure adaptive replication for instance. As a facilitation agent, the role of the ACP will ideally be as follows: − Identifying proactively SSC and TrC opportunities for DAC-donors, pivotal and beneficiary countries − Connecting/matching demand and supply through a brokering mechanism In this respect, strong needs assessments being essential to achieving expected results, the ACP could play an instrumental role in ensuring the quality of the needs assessments produced and, at a more general level, that beneficiary countries are systematically involved in SSC and TrC project phases. Assuring the replicability of the knowledge and technologies planned to be transferred so that the cooperation established yields relevant results for the beneficiaries31 could be another key task carried out by the ACP Secretariat. 27 Although the analysis of the motivations of TrC and SSC providers engaged or willing to engage in SSC and TrC is not the purpose of this paper, it is worth mentioning that aspects of cooperation with developing countries such as China and Brazil have sparked criticisms. It is therefore worth identifying the limitations of cooperation patterns. Understanding the each partner’s motivations for engagement can allow recipient countries determine how to engage in SSC and TrC arrangements in the most beneficial manner. 28 In OECD (2013), Triangular cooperation: what’s the literature telling us, p.17 29 Respectively JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), the GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and AECID (Agencia Española para la Cooperación Internacional y el Desarrollo) 30 In OECD (2013): Triangular cooperation: what’s the literature telling us, p.25 31 The testimony of a Mozambican partner about what he learnt from Chinese in the agriculture sector is in this respect sobering: “I learned some things but at the end everything goes to the garbage because we don’t have the
  • 15. 15 − Assisting stakeholders in developing triangular strategies This can be particularly beneficial for ACP MICs which already are pivotal countries in some TrC arrangements, such as South Africa and Kenya. These countries could more easily gain access to other SSC providers and DAC donors’ experience in order to establish themselves or consolidate their position as regional and/or continental development players32 . Although the ACP has the requisite experience in international cooperation and in dealing with a large number of actors to be an effective facilitator for SSC and TrC, several issues are critical to setting up a successful ACP knowledge hub and facilitation mechanism: − Human and Financial resources In 2013 an independent evaluation of Intra-ACP Cooperation under the 9th and 10th EDF33 indicated that the ACP Secretariat faced challenges in mobilising its staff and dealing with the workload linked to the implementation of the Intra-ACP cooperation activities. This results from the ACP Secretariat’s increased involvement in programme and financial management. Establishing the ACP Secretariat as a knowledge hub and a facilitator in addition to its current role and responsibilities34 would therefore imply the strengthening of ACP Secretariat capacity and functionality, and the allocation of sufficient financial resources to do so. − Pragmatism and Effectiveness The number and type of actors involved in SSC and TrC is significant as the international development community comprises, among others, development agencies, international cooperation or foreign affairs ministries, multilateral organisations, NGOs and foundations. The multiplicity of stakeholders entails the tailoring of a structured, systematic and cost- effective information collection and sharing mechanism as opposed to an informal and loose network, as well as key coordination arrangements that will for instance enable an ACP database to be linked to existing databases. Albeit challenging, setting up an institutional and operational matchmaking and dissemination mechanism constitutes one of the surest ways to scale up SSC and TrC. Additionally, this mechanism will have to take account of managing for result considerations. Designing robust methodology and tools to capture knowledge, setting objectives and indicators as well as drawing up a monitoring and evaluation system will be instrumental in instilling a culture of knowledge and information sharing and management within the ACP. means to implement what we learned”. Chichava, S et alii (2013): Brazil and China in Mozambican Agriculture: emerging insights from the field”, IDS Bulletin 44.4, p.11 32 South African and German governments established a Trilateral Cooperation Fund to assist South Africa in carrying out coordinated activities contributing to regional and continental development and thereby strengthening South Africa as a provider of development cooperation. 33 Evaluation of the EDF support through the Intra-ACP Cooperation, Final report, 31 May 2013. 34 As indicated on the ACP Group website, the ACP Secretariat is responsible for: carrying out the tasks assigned to it by the Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government, Council of Ministers, Committee of Ambassadors and the ACP Parliamentary Assembly; contributing to the implementation of the decisions of these organs; monitoring the implementation of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement; assisting the ACP organs and joint institutions created in the framework of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreements. acting on proposals from the Committee of Ambassadors, the Council of Ministers determines the structure of the ACP Secretariat and lays down its Staff Regulations. http://www.acp.int/content/secretariat-acp
  • 16. 16 − Convergence To allow the ACP facilitator status to be unquestioned and ACP facilitation operations to be feasible, they will have to be widely accepted as a key contribution to making SSC and TrC more effective. ACP commitment to these will have to remain firm as well. Ideally, knowledge sharing will have to be embedded in ACP policies. An increasing number of mechanisms, platforms and networks on SSC and TrC function in parallel and are not necessarily coordinated. Indeed, under the umbrella of the United Nations Office for SSC, the Global South-South Academy, the Global South-South Development Expo and the South- South Global Assets and Technology Exchange (GATE) service the development community engaged in SSC and TrC by showcasing and facilitating the transfer of solutions. The Task- Team on South-South Cooperation (hosted at the OECD-DAC Working Party on Aid Effectiveness), whose objective is to examine the synergies between SSC and the aid effectiveness agenda, brings together a network of practitioners on South-South knowledge exchange and presents case studies on SSC and TrC. The World Bank also supports South- South knowledge exchange arrangements through a South-South Knowledge Exchange Facility35 . Some UN agencies such as the United Nations Environment Programme have also set up exchange mechanisms. In order to avoid overlapping, confusion and to foster cooperation and coordination instead of competition between the various partners, the boundaries of the ACP role and prerogatives will have to be agreed upon at ACP level and with external stakeholders. For instance, as a facilitator, the ACP may have to remain a neutral player with no decision-making authority − Areas of intervention The stature of the ACP as a facilitator will also be linked to its areas of intervention. Is the ACP willing to conduct facilitation operations in all sectors? Will sectors in which SSC and TrC are developing and which are currently favoured by the ACP be prioritized? These are questions that will have to be adequately thought through by the ACP. Instead of dispersing its efforts in diversification, a concentration of ACP facilitation and knowledge-related activities on a limited number of areas seems a priori more appropriate. Distinctiveness, credibility and identification of areas of expertise should guide the ACP in the selection of their future areas of intervention. The establishment of an ACP facilitation mechanism and knowledge repository requires to be further conceptualized. By contrast, SSC and TrC have already been financed under the 10th EDF and a stronger and unambiguous support to TrC arrangements needs to be provided under the 11th EDF and through EU Development Cooperation generally speaking. 3) Enhanced support to South-South and Triangular Cooperation through EU Development Cooperation Seizing the opportunities for synergy Over the years, the EU initiated a series of moves towards TrC. The 2008 EU Communication titled “The EU, Africa and China: Towards trilateral dialogue and cooperation”36 attests to EU 35 http://wbi.worldbank.org/sske/funding 36 COM(2008)654 final, Commission Communication, 17 October 2008
  • 17. 17 manifest interest in this modality. Likewise, in the context of the EU-Brazil Summit of 4 October 2011, both parties agreed on a strategic partnership in which TrC arrangements with developing countries were to be explored in health sector, agriculture and food security, human rights among others. The importance of this cooperation mode is clearly asserted in this strategic partnership’s Joint Action Plan: “The EU and Brazil attach high importance to the role of triangular cooperation that should be one of the major areas for the Strategic Partnership [...] Triangular Cooperation between EU and Brazil in partnership with developing countries should be promoted as a modality to complement the existing bilateral cooperation initiatives, as well as leverage knowledge, coherence and additional financial resources for the benefit of developing countries”37 . Owing to Global South countries’ increasing engagement in SSC and TrC, and to EU interest in providing support to them, it is crucial and timely to examine and capitalize on the possibilities offered by EU financial instruments for external action, the Partnership Instrument for instance, to catalyze the implementation of TrC arrangements. It is to be noted that this modality is far from being utterly new for the EU as activities that could be labelled as TrC programmes were already financed under the 10th EDF. Precedents under the 10th European Development Fund The Annex IV to the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement which relates specifically to implementation and management procedures indicates that “regional cooperation shall cover operations benefiting and involving [...] two or more or all ACP States as well as any non- ACP developing countries participating in these operations”. In the same vein, supra-regional cooperation funded under the EDF and also called “Intra-ACP cooperation” is described as aiming to addressing the “shared challenges facing ACP States through operations that transcend the concept of geographic location and benefit many or all ACP States”. This relative openness to developing countries in general within the EDF must be seen as a window of opportunity for TrC and by consequence SSC. As the European Commission put it in 2011, “the implementation of programmes at intra- ACP level encourages regional cross-fertilisation and creates incentives to develop benchmarking and common approaches to similar situations among ACP countries. Greater consideration could be given to disseminating good practices that should be replicated where appropriate. Intra-ACP cooperation acts as a catalyst by launching activities and spearheading regional dialogue on new development themes or on innovative approaches (e.g. climate change, commodities, innovative insurance schemes, phytosanitary standards and the EU- Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund)”38 . In practice, several programmes fulfilling the conditions for TrC, in particular knowledge exchange and capacity building activities, have been financed under the 10th EDF Intra-ACP cooperation and are being currently implemented. The following examples39 illustrate this reality. 37 European Union –Brazil Summit, Joint Statement_European Union-Brazil Strategic Partnership, October 2011, p.15 38 SEC(2011) 1055 final, Commission Staff Working Paper, 10th EDF Performance review, 8 September 2011, p.36 39 The information relative to Intra-ACP Academic Mobility Scheme, Science and Technology programme and Hubs and Spokes programme are drawn from respective Financing agreements between the European Commission and the ACP States
  • 18. 18 − The Intra-ACP Mobility Scheme The programme provides funds (€30M for the African component and €10M for a Caribbean and Pacific component) to finance scholarships for students wishing to take Master and PhD courses in other African/Caribbean and Pacific Universities, Scholarships for academic and administrative staff to participate in cross country inter- university exchanges/mobility (these may include teaching, research, training etc) as well as support to Universities that will be hosting students and academic/administrative staff. This programme is a shining example of knowledge exchange between developing countries supported by developed countries. − The Science and Technology programme The €40M programme contained two main components: capacity building in the field of Science and Technology and research actions. Many projects focused on setting up or strengthening agricultural Science, Technology and Innovation networks, between research centres and farmers in ACP countries to improve the productivity of local crops for consumption or export. − The Hubs and Spokes programme The €12M Hub and Spokes Programme aims to promote the effective participation of ACP countries in international trade negotiations and to strengthen their capacities to formulate, negotiate and implement trade policies. The Commonwealth Secretariat has mobilised 7 Regional Trade Policy Advisers – commonly known as Hubs – located in the Regional Economic Communities and 16 Trade Policy Advisers– known as Spokes – in several ACP countries. The OIF has mobilised 4 Conseillers Régionaux (Hubs) and 16 Conseillers Nationaux (Spokes). Their mandate is essentially to strengthen the institutional capacity for implementation of trade policies and international trade agreements and related activities. This project provides an excellent example of North-South, South-South and Triangular cooperation. The independent evaluation on Intra-ACP Cooperation under the 9th and 10th EDF concluded that the programmes providing for the creation of networks and exchanges of experiences such as those mentioned above had been particularly successful. The support provided has for instance allowed increasing South-South networks among universities. Institutional capacities have also been strengthened in the field of science and technology. This constitutes a strong argument for allocating further funding to SSC and TrC programmes under the 11th EDF with a programmatic and systematic approach and not in an ad hoc manner. Prospects for the 11th EDF The three clusters of activities40 that were agreed in the 10th EDF Intra-ACP strategy, that is “Global initiatives”, “All-ACP initiatives”, “Pan-African initiatives” are bound to be overhauled in the upcoming 11th EDF Intra-ACP strategy. This is due, among other reasons, to the setting up of a €1 billion Pan African Programme under the European Union budget to finance the Joint Africa EU strategy-related activities which were previously partially covered by the Intra-ACP’s Pan-African initiatives cluster. The programming of the 11th EDF Intra- ACP can therefore be an opportunity for the European Union and the ACP Group to support 40 In addition, institutional and support expenditure cover the funding of the joint institutions and partial funding of the ACP Secretariat as well as a Technical Cooperation Facility.
  • 19. 19 different development cooperation approaches and thus show stronger support for the Global Partnership for development. In view of the above, the ACP Group proposes that SSC and TrC modalities be given due consideration in the 11th EDF through funding from Intra-ACP resources. The programming and implementation of the above-mentioned programmes proves that TrC arrangements can effectively and appropriately be included into the Intra-ACP configuration. In line with the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly resolution on South-South and Triangular cooperation and in order to best leverage the changing development cooperation architecture, the ACP Group proposes that a robust TrC policy be incorporated into EU development cooperation framework and that TrC be deliberately integrated into the 11th EDF Intra-ACP strategy. The Intra-ACP cooperation would then be an umbrella under which South-South cooperation could consistently be accommodated as in the examples presented above. Reflections regarding the identification of sectors of intervention in the 11th EDF Intra- ACP cooperation will also have to be undertaken. It will for instance be key to determine to what extent areas in which emerging countries such as Brazil have an undeniable added value (e.g. social protection) can be integrated into the Intra-ACP Strategy and covered by SSC and TrC programmes. The rapid evolution of South-South cooperation over the past years has opened a window of opportunities for developing countries that can now turn to such a cooperation modality, in addition to traditional North-South cooperation, as a means towards achieving internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs and fulfilling the post-2015 agenda41 . Securing financing of TrC programmes under the 11th EDF Intra-ACP cooperation and through EU development cooperation in general would contribute to bridging the divide between North-South and South-South cooperation and therefore allow the 79 ACP Member States to fully enjoy the opportunities offered by all approaches. 41 In the ACP Declaration on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (28 November 2013), SSC and TrC are presented as “a catalyst for diversifying and transforming the economies of ACP countries and therefore contribute to the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda”. The Co-Chairs of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals mentioned the importance of SSC and TrC in its 6th session held on 13 December 2013. The Open Working Group of the United Nations’ Assembly General is tasked with preparing a proposal on the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • 20. 20 Concluding remarks The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century have been marked by dramatic economic and geopolitical changes. Open knowledge adds up to those and is one of the key shifts transforming development cooperation. This is now allowing developing countries to not simply accept solutions handed down to them by developed countries. They now also get inspiration and technical knowledge from successful emerging economies in the South while remaining open to the practical know-how from the North. SSC as a whole constitutes a driving force for growth. This should however not lead to the downgrading of the relationship between developing countries and DAC donors which has been nurtured for decades. SSC and TrC contain a creative force that requires being unleashed and a potential that needs to be unlocked. International support can help ACP Member States and developing countries as a whole to fully enjoy the opportunities that both modalities offer. The ACP Group proactivity in advancing SSC and TrC agenda proves its willingness and legitimacy to harness the current formidable energy towards these modalities. The ACP is also keen to become instrumental in SSC and TrC in a practical way. As a knowledge repository and a facilitator, the ACP will contribute to expanding knowledge sources on development and thus to optimising the actions currently carried out by the stakeholders involved in SSC and TrC activities. Moreover, the programming of EU funds for the period 2014-2020 is an opportunity to promote and financially support SSC and TrC that must be seized. Indeed “given past experience, EU institutional actors and member states now have the opportunity to apply lessons learned and prepare European development policy for the political-economic and social realities of least developed countries, more developed countries, transition and conflict affected countries and regions of the 21st century”42 . In this sense, TrC can allow Intra-ACP cooperation in the true sense of the word to reach its full potential. The development community is on the learning curve as regards SSC and TrC. To ensure that an adequately structured and long-lasting model comes into being, the development community must join forces to build a strong coalition for success. Concerted actions are needed to assure that SSC and TrC will not be considered in the future as outdated buzz words but as sustainable, result-oriented and effective models of collaborative development cooperation. 42 Görtz, S. and Keijzer N. (2012): Reprogramming EU development cooperation for 2014-2020 - Key moments for partner countries, EU Delegations, member states and headquarters in 2012. (ECDPM Discussion Paper 129) – p.11
  • 21. 21 References 10th Ministerial Meeting of the ACP NAOs and RAOs, South-South and Triangular cooperation: Opportunities and Challenges, April 17-18 2013 (ACP Group internal document). ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Resolution on South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation: Opportunities and challenges for the ACP countries, ACP- EU/101.516/13/fin, 27 November 2013. Accessible under: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/intcoop/acp/2013_addis/pdf/101.516_en.pdf ACP-EU Partnership Agreement (2010). Accessible under: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/acp/overview/documents/devco-cotonou-consol-europe- aid-2012_en.pdf AECID (2009): AECID’s Approach and experience in Triangular cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean, Policy Dialogue on Development Cooperation, Mexico City, 28- 29 September 2009. Accessible under: http://www.oecd.org/dac/43878483.pdf AECID (2010): Triangular Co-operation in the Context of Aid Effectiveness – Experiences and Views of EU Donors, Concept note of Workshop organised by AECID, Madrid, 8-10 March. Accessible under: http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/files/europa_only/featured_triangular_co- operation_concept_note_20100309.pdf BMZ (2013e): Triangular Cooperation in German Development Cooperation, BMZ Strategy Paper. Busan Partnership Document (2011). Accessible under: http://www.oecd.org/dac/effectiveness/49650173.pdf Chichava, S., Duran, J., Cabral, L., Shankland, A., Buckley, L., Lixia, T., Yue, Z. (2013): Brazil and China in Mozambican Agriculture: emerging insights from the field, IDS Bulletin 44.4 Council of the European Union, SEC(2011) 1055 final, Commission Staff Working Paper, 10th EDF Performance review, 8 September 2011, Brussels. Council of the European Union, European Union –Brazil Summit, Joint Statement_European Union-Brazil Strategic Partnership, October 2011. Accessible under: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/124878.pdf ECDPM (February 2011): ACP Group considers role in South-South and Triangular cooperation, ECDPM talking points. Accessible under: http://www.ecdpm- talkingpoints.org/acp-group-considers-role-in-south-south-and-triangular- cooperation/#sthash.bZHmrK0F.dpuf European Commission, Evaluation of the EDF support through the Intra-ACP Cooperation, Final report, 31 May 2013. Evaluation carried out by Safege-Cowi.
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