South-South Co-operation - South-South Cooperation in COVID-19 Era

COVID-19 has brought global partnership to the forefront of international cooperation. 

The United Nations has welcomed an upswing in South-South cooperation, which has enabled many LDCs obtain urgently needed medications, vaccines and medical supplies during the pandemic. Cooperation among countries of the South cannot substitute for the actions required by the wider international community but can bring a degree of relief and support with recovery. 

To combat the crisis, LDCs are leveraging their own SSC structures to coordinate policy responses to contain the spread of the virus, and to access vaccines, PPE, and diagnostic kits. Meanwhile, the South-led development banks have provided liquidity support to LDCs enabling them to address the health crisis and its socioeconomic fallouts.  

This form of joint working and solidarity can provide a blueprint for the international coordination and cooperation that will be needed to recover better than after previous crises. 

 Image source: https://unctad.org/