Reverse Linkage

27 DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION tive advantage more systematically. The participants of the OECD’s last Lisbon meeting in 2016 had the following preliminary thoughts on where Triangular Cooperation adds concrete value, by: • Promoting trusting, stable and horizontal partnerships • Fostering partners’ complementary strengths to achieve development results • Sharing knowledge • Co-creating solutions to development challenges that are innovative, affordable and context-specific • Promoting additional resources and institutions to enhance the volume, scope and sustainability of Triangular Cooperation projects • Promoting more effective development cooperation, regional integration and shaping a common understand- ing of international development. Characteristic #4 The work of the OECD is providing evidence on how partners work trilaterally in theMiddle East andNorthAfrica (MENA) region – without necessarily labelling it as such – often due to the lack of an internationally agreed definition that goes beyond ‘simply’ supporting South-South Cooperation. Triangular Cooperation in the MENA region targets a wide range of sectors and, interestingly, project types vary as well, from capacity building and technical cooperation interven- tions, to working with civil society, to large multi-annual financial investments, at times including the private sector. The OECD’s new working paper on this topic shows that these Triangular Cooperation activities can provide development experiences and lessons for all providers of development cooperation working in the MENA region on, for example implementing partnerships in fragile contexts; integrating triangular approaches into larger develop- ment cooperation programmes, such as IsDB’s Reverse Linkage initiative; and supporting providers of develop- ment cooperation in the MENA region, as IsDB is doing with the technical cooperation agencies of countries such as Morocco or Tunisia – and further afield, for example Turkey, Indonesia or Azerbaijan. The OECD’s work on Triangular Cooperation and its collaboration and exchange with its partners, such as Brazil and IsDB, has illustrated that Triangular Cooperation has the potential to contribute to achieving the SDGs, yet this contribution is not widely recognised. More evidence and analysis is needed to raise awareness of its contribution and to make full use of and mainstream Triangular Cooperation as a means to achieve the SDGs. For instance, solutions to pressing global challenges, such as forced migration and climate change – just to name a few. Triangular Cooperation tackles global challenges such as forced migration On the issue of hosting and integrating refugees through Triangular Cooperation initiatives, providers in the MENA region work, for instance, with Germany or Japan. Germany takes a programmatic approach that includes triangular activities as a component of larger bilateral or regional programmes and funds in the MENA region. This way of working provides flexibility and ensures ownership by all partners, as projects are jointly planned, financed and implemented with the facilitating and beneficiary partners both coming from the MENA region. Activities aim to strengthen civil society structures and contribute to reduc- ing poverty through microfinance and financial inclusion of marginalised groups, such as women and youth. One example is the Safe and Creative School Spaces Programme in Jordan, under the Madrasati Initiative of the Queen Rania Jordan River Foundation. The German Open Regional Fund has financed this initiative with the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) since 2015. The project is a response to the Syrian conflict and the influx of over 660,000 registered Syrian refugees in Jordan, of which approximately a third were of school age. In a closely co-ordinated and jointly designed approach, OFID funds the maintenance of eight school buildings in targeted areas; Germany supports training for teachers and extracurricu- lar activities for Jordanian and Syrian students in the same schools; and the Madrasati Initiative also contributed to both areas. Partners Queen Rania Jordan River Foundation Jordan (Madrasati Initiative) Germany (GIZ) OPEC Fund for International Development Objective To improve the quality of education, both for Jordanian and Syrian refugee students, to empower them through enriching the classroom and after-school learning and providing them with life skills that are necessary to contribute to social peace in the Jordanian host communities. Interventions are made in eight schools which are particularly affected by the influx of Syrian refugees. Budget US$1 billion from the Madrasati Initiative US$720,000 from OFID US$520,000 from GIZ Project period 2015–2018 Madrasati – Safe And Creative School Spaces Source: OECD