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South-South and triangular cooperation: Untapped potential in peace-building
Inadequate capacity of institutions in conflict-affected countries is among the key impediments to peace-building.
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Indonesian peacekeepers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) prepare to leave their base for a patrol near Al-Taybe, South Lebanon, 28 August 2009. In 2006, UNIFIL expanded its deployment to Southern Lebanon, a high-tension area near the Lebanon-Israel border (also known as the Blue Line), when the two countries resumed hostilities. (UN Photo/Pasqual Gorriz)
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outh-South and triangular cooperation play important roles in international development cooperation, alongside the traditional North-South cooperation. So far, however, the potential benefits of these approaches have not been fully exploited in peace-building.
Within this context, Indonesia and Norway both share commitments to strengthening South-South and triangular cooperation. It is in that spirit, and as focal points for financing for peace-building in the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, we took the initiative to co-organize a high-level meeting on “The Role of Enhanced South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Capacity Building in Support of Peacebuilding” during the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 18 in New York.
Since the UN member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015 and the seminal resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council in 2016 on Sustaining Peace, there is an increased realization that peace and development are deeply interconnected.
Success in one requires success in the other. Inadequate capacity of institutions in conflict-affected countries is among the key impediments to peace-building. The potential of greater South-South and triangular cooperation in capacity building should therefore be further explored by the UN, the International Financial Institutions and other development partners, regionally and globally.
Indonesia has been emphasizing this aspect in its co-facilitation of the UN civilian capacity initiative, its membership of the Peacebuilding Commission, as well as through its participation in other UN forums, in ASEAN and elsewhere. Indonesia has established a national coordination mechanism for such cooperation to reinforce its participation.
The lessons learned, best practices and support mechanisms should not only apply to the 2030 Agenda but also to other core global agendas, such as the agenda for Sustaining Peace. We are convinced that the UN system can play a more impactful role in achieving sustainable peace and development, if more emphasis is given to Southern solutions and partnerships.
The resilience of emerging economies and their contributions to global stability and economic progress in the developing, as well as developed, world is an indicator of the potential of South-South and triangular cooperation.
