We, the participants in the Tenth Meeting of the
Intergovernmental Follow-up and Coordination Committee on Economic Cooperation among
Developing Countries, held in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, from 18 to 22 August 2001,
which marks the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Caracas Programme of Action,
in reaffirming the relevance and the validity of the various declarations and programmes
of action subsequently adopted by the Group of 77 and in reiterating our firm commitment
to the principles and objectives enshrined in the Havana Declaration and Programme of
Action, have resolved to move forcefully and urgently forward on the following five
objectives of common concern to the developing world in the context of South-South
cooperation, and to that effect, call upon all partners in the international development
effort to extend genuine support to achieving those objectives.
1. Consolidating South-South platform
While we note the increasing need and potential for
South-South cooperation and significant progress in a number of areas, we are fully
cognizant of problems, gaps and challenges and that exist. We also recognize the enormous
potentialities, both unrealized and untapped, in many domains that need to be harnessed.
The gap between the set objectives and agreed actions and the actual implementation should
be effectively bridged.
The situation has evolved over the last two decades, and new
challenges, issues and conditions have emerged. A realistic, objective assessment of the
Group's plans and programmes of action, and the status of their implementation, should be
undertaken with a view to consolidating them into an updated platform to be submitted for
consideration and action by the High Level Conference on South-South Cooperation, to be
held in 2003 in accordance with the Havana Summit decision. To this end, all necessary
measures should be taken to provide the member States of the Group of 77 with a strategic
overview of the new global environment and its interlinkages as well as of changes in
developing countries that are of relevance to South-South cooperation today, including the
new areas where such cooperation can be fruitfully undertaken.
2. Building stronger South institutions at the global level
The coordination of policy and joint negotiating
positions on major issues on the international agenda are essential, and require adequate
intellectual and technical support, internal coordination and a commensurate preparatory
process. The Group of 77, drawing on its recent successes in major international
processes, should undertake to pursue the legitimate concerns and demands of the South
equally vigorously at the Doha, Monterey and Johannesburg Conferences, all of which will
address vital issues for all countries and peoples of the South. The Group should continue
to consolidate its new sense of assertiveness as a major credible and potent negotiating
force.
South-South cooperation at the global level requires
adequate and structured institutional support. Immediate steps should be taken to expand
and strengthen the Secretariat of the Group of 77 in New York in order to provide greater
support to the activities of the Group. The process of institution-building should be
pursued in earnest as one of the principal building blocs of more effective South-South
cooperation in the global arena. First and foremost, this requires the South to mobilize
adequate financial and skilled human resources to support its own institutions.
3. Bridging the knowledge and information gap
Easily accessible empirical data and a global overview of
South-South cooperation are lacking. This information and knowledge gap needs to be closed
urgently, which calls, as a matter of priority, for the creation of a collective capacity,
inter alia, through the launching of a "South Report" on the state of
South-South cooperation as the basic reference and major policy and analytical tool for
South-South cooperation.
4. Building broad-based partnerships
South-South cooperation is a common endeavour of peoples
and countries of the South, based on their common objectives and solidarity. It should be
broadly based, involving not only Governments but also the private sector, academic
institutions, civil society organizations, various innovative arrangements, including
those in the domain of arts and culture, indeed the common citizens and the people at
large, as well as South institutions, groupings and other organizations that work within
and between developing countries. New forms and partnerships for assuring such
mobilization and broad participation should be encouraged and practiced, drawing as much
as possible on new information and communication technologies.
5. Mobilizing global support for South-South cooperation
South-South cooperation has suffered from benign neglect
by the international community. The overall policy has been fragmented, with limited
financial resources allocated in support of such cooperation. For an effective, meaningful
support, the international community, including the United Nations system and other major
international institutions as well as the donor community, is urged to reexamine their
approach and policy, and provide vigorous catalytic support, including requisite financial
resources to all forms of South-South cooperation. In this context, the role of the United
Nations Development Programme in supporting South-South cooperation and in advocating a
more inclusive globalization should be reaffirmed. Active support for various institutions
of the South, including research institutions, is equally important towards expanding the
Group's institutional and negotiating capacity.
Public opinion needs to be more aware of the purposes and
value of South-South cooperation. It is proposed that an International Decade on
South-South Cooperation and a United Nations day for South-South Cooperation should be
launched in order to contribute to increased awareness and to generate political dynamism
and visibility that accompany "other decades" in the international arena.
