Defining South-South Cooperation (SSC)
An internationally accepted definition of South-South Cooperation is yet to be formulated. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has defined South-South Cooperation in the context of achieving the goals set at the ICPD and the millennium development goals (MDGs). UNFPA defines South-South Cooperation in its Policy and Procedure Manual as “ a means of development by an exchange of knowledge, experience, technology and information and capacity development between and among developing countries through governments, civil society organizations, academic institutions, national institutions and networks to accelerate the implementation of the ICPD agenda and achievement of MDGs in participating countries”. Other organizations and individuals in the field have defined SSC in varied ways and these are listed below. These are meant to provide a broad perspective on the concept. 1.1 Commonly Used Concepts/Definitions of South-South Cooperation South-South Cooperation has been loosely defined as an exchange of expertise between governments, organizations and individuals in developing nations. Through this model, the developing countries help and support each other with knowledge, technical assistance, and/or investments. South-South Cooperation means countries of the South helping each other by sharing technical or economic knowledge and skills to facilitate development. A growing body of evidence suggests that learning and cooperation among developing nations is increasing in both frequency and complexity. The evidence suggests that their cooperation is expanding to include not only economic cooperation but now encompasses health, education, communication, research, and development. Brought together by shared backgrounds and common challenges, people in developing nations are banding together as peers to find new and innovative solutions to development issues. Reviews of technical cooperation suggest that South-South learning from sharing is often more effective in developing capacity than one-way knowledge transfers from the North. This brief identifies trends in this phenomenon and highlights some successful cases of South-South learning and cooperation. * South-South Cooperation is a broader concept covering a very wide range of collaboration among developing countries, and is generally regarded as having three dimensions: political, economic and technical. *South-South Cooperation aims to promote self-sufficiency among southern nations and to strengthen economic ties among states whose market power is more equally matched.
* South-South Cooperation is about developing countries working together to find solutions to common development challenges. Linked by commonalities of history, geography, and challenges, the countries of the South have important lessons to share, including many success stories from which other developing countries can learn.
*The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which is actively promoting South-South Cooperation, defines the term as "a means of promoting effective development by learning and sharing best practices and technology among developing countries."
Advantages of South-South cooperation 1.In terms of the big picture, South-South cooperation has been successful in both decreasing dependence and pressure on the aid programmes of developed countries and in creating a shift in the international balance of power. For one, the relative absence of conditionalities attached to development cooperation, is attractive to programme countries in the South. Whereas Northern assistance flows often come with policy strings attached, Southern development cooperation is seen as more flexible and less restrictive. 2. A frequently stated advantage of South-South development cooperation is that it provides better