South-South cooperation and LDCs

• The China Programme at the WTO funds an annual South-South dialogue on LDCs and development, a high-level retreat with acceding LDCs and a group of LDC and non-LDC developing country members of the WTO. 
• LDCs collaborate with each other in international negotiations such as those on climate or trade, sometimes negotiating as a group.  More information here.
• There are several south-south cooperation initiatives, including among LDCs, on climate change, such as the LDC Group activities, the LDC Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE-AR), the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Universities Consortium on Climate Change (LUCCC) and the LDC Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Initiative for Sustainable Development (LDC REEEI). More information here.
• The India-UN Development Partnership Fund is a dedicated facility within the United Nations Fund for South-South Cooperation established in 2017. It is supported and led by the Government of the Republic of India, managed by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, and implemented in collaboration with the United Nations system. The fund has an emphasis on partnering with small island developing States, LDCs, landlocked developing countries and countries affected by disaster. In 2020 approximately 40% of countries that participated in projects were LDCs.

• The India, Brazil and South Africa Facility for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation (IBSA Fund) aims to identify replicable and scalable projects that can be disseminated to interested developing countries as examples of best practices in the fight against poverty and hunger. The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation is the Fund Manager for this initiative. More information at https://www.unsouthsouth.org/partner-with-us/ibsa/.
• The Neighboring Countries Economic Development Fund (NEDF) formed in 1996 formalized cooperation of Thailand with Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar (in addition to the non-LDC Viet Nam). The Phone Hong Hospital development programme is one of the current initiatives.
• The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by China in 2013 includes projects with more than 100 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe, integrating resources and building long-term and multidimensional partnerships. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) partners with governments and research institutions in several LDCs to strengthen national capacities for jointly building the Belt and Road towards the Sustainable Development Goals, funded by the 2030 Agenda Sub-Fund of the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund. For more information, please visit https://www.brisdgs.org/.

More on South-South cooperation and LDCs on this Portal.