Reverse Linkage

129 DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION this is a process that results in better information quality. Indeed, in many cases, it was the very effort of collecting the information every year that gradually drove the countries to develop and progress in building their own SSC recording systems, adapting them not only to the information needs of the report, but also to their own national information and management requirements. Without a shadow of a doubt, this improves the aggregate results of the SSC report and, more importantly, substantially enhances the quality of input for informed, evidence-based decision-making in the respec- tive national SSC policies. This is especially important given the intrinsic nature of SSC as a powerful, dynamic instru- ment for adaptation to the countries’ development challenges. One of the milestones resulting from the above, the fruit of everyone’s work and the culmination of this process, has undoubtedly been the design, creation, implementation and start-up of the only online data platform for South-South and Triangular Cooperation in place for a developing region. The Ibero-American Integrated South-South Cooperation Data System (SIDICSS) meets the specifications proper to any information system insofar as it enables the data it contains to be recorded, stored and used. Its uniqueness, nevertheless, lies in three key aspects: • Its conceptual andmethodological link with the SSC report • The shared use made of it by two different stakeholders (the Ibero-American countries and the SEGIB) • The incorporation of mechanisms that allow the coun- tries to cross-reference information and validate it, in an exercise that affords outstanding technical soundness and political legitimacy to the aggregate data contained in the integrated database. A document of these characteristics is important because it serves as a work and a visibility tool, both for the governments as well as for the SEGIB itself. Through this systematisation and analysis of their SSC, the countries can position themselves both at the domestic political and at the regional and international levels, endorsed by data collected by all the countries in the region. Especially after a decade’s collection, the contents of the report serve to illustrate SSC trends and performance and to highlight the capabilities and challenges faced by countries in development issues and which can be addressed through the strengthening of competencies, the interchange of experiences and the trans- fer of technology. Moreover, this in-depth analysis of knowledge of SSC offers empirical evidence for breaking down some of the myths that have been built around it, such as the idea that the countries of the Global South are divided into providers and recipients, demonstrating that even countries that are mainly recipients of SSC can also play a role as providers and vice versa, that the large countries of the Global South, which are regarded as providers, receive, in turn, techni- cal assistance from other countries in a mutual interchange The contribution of Ibero-American South-South Cooperation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Three important conclusions were drawn from this exercise: • All the projects recorded were contributing, to a greater or lesser degree, to one of the 17 goals • All the goals were addressed by South-South Cooperation (SSC) • At least 60 per cent of the projects were also contributing to a second sustainable development goal, if not more. The main SDGs that were addressed through SSC in the region, according to the data of the latest report, are SDGs 2 and 3, relating to Food Security and Healthcare, respectively. In the case of Healthcare, 124 projects were recorded that were directly related to this goal and closely linked to strengthening health services and to researching the treatment and prevention of non-communicable diseases. As for the Food Security area, a large portion of the 94 projects pinpointed were framed within the agricul- tural industry and were especially geared towards improving productivity through technological devel- opment or increasing food production sustainability. The third SDG that records most projects is Goal 16, relating to Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, which was directly promoted through 74 projects that mainly sought to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public institutions, as well as to enhance elements of transparency and strengthen- ing of the judicial systems. As for SDG 9, the third most important, concern- ing Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, it was especially linked to the aspects of sustainability, increasing industry’s contribution to GDP and upgrading the technological capability of the indus- trial sectors. Finally, the fourth SDG in importance, Goal 8, was not only indirectly promoted by work in the agricul- tural and industrial sectors, but also by those that sought to increase employment levels and guarantee workers’ rights.