September 12 is a yearly occurrence – a day the United Nations recognizes as the South-South Cooperation Day. But what is South-South cooperation?
The name is very self-explanatory. Even if we do not understand it fully, a quick glance reveals this is about the Global South – the developing countries of the world.
South-South cooperation entails a mutual understanding between the developing countries, guided by the sense of shared and similar problems.
While the standard practice has always been that developing countries look up to the developed world and seek partnerships with the rich and advanced West, South-South cooperation carries the advantage of learning to grow together, relying on home-grown solutions, exporting them to the countries who tread similar terrain, and bonding strongly among themselves.
There are a few concrete reasons why South-South cooperation is the answer developing countries seek:
To begin with, it is hard to rely on a system where funds are evaporating and the richest of the world are no more willing to push resources to areas where they are needed. This relates to a failing multilateralism – a structure that was put in place by the West.
Read More: Reimagining South-South Climate Cooperation: From Rhetoric to Structural Justice
But this does not mean multilateralism ends here. Rather, alternative multilateral collaborations are spurring up, especially among the Global South.
Secondly, societies are more receptive to other societies who share their experiences. Case in point, the post-colonial societies. Cooperation with the West means the wound of colonialism props up again and again. Contrary to that, South-South Cooperation means collective healing.
Thirdly, a stronger sense prevails within the Global South that technologies, resources, and solutions that are imported from the West work to surveil, control, and hinder development. Whereas cooperating among themselves means more transparency, more sustainability.
Lastly, as people grow more aware of power dynamics and as they share their lived experiences in real time through social media, a space has already grown which naturally brings developing countries closer together. This space is marked by a shared feeling of being wronged by the West.
A natural outcome is that communities surface, people interact, and cultures are exchanged even when the words South-South cooperation are not pronounced out loud.
Established in December 2008, The Diplomatic Insight is Pakistan’s premier diplomacy and foreign affairs magazine, available in both digital and print formats.
