Reverse Linkage

73 DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION E stablishing partnerships is an attitude and a state of mind”. This is how one of the partners of the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD) 1 recently described what the organization strives to do every day. It also sums up the ethos of the EAPD’s work, as it has learnt that sharing experiences, know-how, best practice, lessons-learnt, capabilities, resources and connections is the best way to devise and provide crea- tive solutions to communities and countries of the Global South in a way that maximises impact and adds value. The communities and countries that the EAPD aims to support in their developmental efforts are in Africa and the Islamic world. Since its creation by H.E. President Abdel- Fattah El-Sisi in July 2014, as the South-South Cooperation arm of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the agency has been building innovative partnerships at national, regional and international levels to more swiftly and effectively bolster the endeavours of African and Islamic communities and countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and unlock and harness the immense potential they possess. Although the EAPD was established by the merging of two Egyptian Funds for Technical Cooperation, one with Africa and the other with the Commonwealth of Independent States, and its work builds on their accomplishments, the agency’s capabilities, resources, and more importantly ambitions, are far greater than the sum of its parts. The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is one of the long- standing and valuable partners of the EAPD. The scope of cooperation has widened to include the various entities within the IsDB Group, and has taken many forms, most The Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development – forging partnerships to provide regional solutions with a global perspective Ambassador Dr. Hazem Fahmy, Secretary General, The Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development “ A group of African brothers and sisters at the conclusion of a training programme held in Cairo in cooperation between the EAPD and the Egyptian International Center for Agriculture Image: EAPD