Reverse Linkage

15 DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION A ccording to the memorable African adage: If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. The wisdom of this recurs in many historical writings that tell of how challenges and difficul- ties are overcome when people work together as a team, each taking a portion of the responsibilities. The recent history of economic and social development has shown repeated attempts to move this wisdom from a local to a global level through various regional and thematic initi- atives, arriving at the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and, most recently, to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2030 Agenda is the culmination of international wisdom and experience in recognising that a comprehensive and inclu- sive strategy, that will leave no one behind, cannot be realised without the true spirit and effective actions of partnerships. These recent initiatives accompanied by the new chal- lenges have created a paradigm shift in development thinking. Development is no longer considered purely in terms of giving financial aid to developing countries, or of challenges that exist entirely in the developing world. Statistics show that the majority of the world’s poor live in countries defined as middle-income. Moreover, the entire world cannot properly handle the challenge of rising climate change unless the other late industrialisers agree to coop- erate with the rest of the world in tackling these critical environmental issues. Even the developed countries are facing an unprecedented increase in rates of inequality. For example, the average income for the top 10 per cent of earners in the US is more than nine times as much as the lowest 90 per cent. The social and political implications of this cannot be ignored. The development project business model has changed its focus from better management – a top-down model – to a more participatory approach. Partnership, as a major driver for development and growth, is no longer seen as the giving of resources by multilateral institutions or developed countries to developing countries, but as an instrument that facilitates cooperation, not only between countries, but also between major stakeholders within each country and among countries. Regardless of the progress achieved with the MDGs, substantial challenges remained which led to a shift in policy and a re-evaluation of the development agenda in order to construct a new set of goals. In 2015, the international devel- opment community and the governments of 193 countries agreed to a new programme – the 2030 Agenda – for compre- hensive and sustainable human development. It aspires to achieving 17 high level goals and 169 specific targets, encom- passing the social, economic and environment dimensions of development. The difference in the SDGs lies not only in the comprehensiveness of the goals that encompass all dimen- sions of development, but also in the innovative framework for the implementation of the goals, with a marked emphasis on multi-stakeholder partnerships as one of the main routes to successful implementation. This is articulated in SDG 17 which is set up to strengthen the means of implementa- tion and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development . It is instructive that SDG 17 came about as a major driver for achieving the SDGs following the conclu- sion of numerous engagements and brainstorming sessions (over 7 million consultations over a period of almost 3 years) among all stakeholders including governments, the private sector, civil society and, most importantly, representatives of the beneficiaries themselves. It is important to understand the context for the special emphasis on partnerships. It is estimated that achieving the SDGs will require US$2–3 trillion annually until 2030, from an international GDP of approximately US$115 trillion. However, the amount of Official Development Assistance is only around US$143 billion annually, and all financing by multilateral development banks is about US$127 billion annually. Regardless of the accuracy and variations in the estimates, there is clearly a huge financing gap to be resolved if the development community is serious about achieving the SDGs. Many creative initiatives will need to arise, and smarter, more substantial partnerships must be forged in order to reduce the gap. One way of reducing the funding gap and initiating partnerships for development is to tap into the paradigm of South-South Cooperation (SSC) as a platform for the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge among Driving the 2030 Agenda through South-South Cooperation Dr. Rami M.S. Ahmad, Special Envoy on SDGs, Senior Advisor to the President, Islamic Development Bank