User:Samkange/Partners in South-South Cooperation

Partners for South-South Cooperation

Partners in South-South Cooperation, formerly Programme for South-South Cooperation PSC, is a development cooperation comprising several developing countries working together towards sustainable development and to fight poverty. Currently Benin, Bhutan and Costa Rica are partners in the cooperation and other countries have expressed interest.

Since its inception in 2006 Partners has managed 34 projects in the three countries.

While initial funding was provided by the Netherlands to kickstart the process, the cooperation is run independently by the members who support each other through knowledge transfer and exchange. This is distinctively different from the traditional development approach where developing countries highly depend on expensive and not always adequate Northern expertise and consultants (technical assistance).

Partners's guiding principles are Equality (among members), Reciprocity (between members on each project) and Participation (inclusion of civil society, governments, local authorities, professional associations, businesses, indigenous people). The cooperation emphasizes economic and social development and environmental protection within the prioritized sustainable development themes - water, agriculture and biodiversity.

Partners supports innovation through seeding initiatives, replicating successes, establishing transnational partnerships and disseminating information in five thematic areas:
 * Sustainable tourism
 * Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
 * Access to sustainable energy and efficient energy use.
 * Sustainable chains of production and consumption.
 * Gender equity (as cross-cutting theme).

History
During the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg in 2002, the Republic of Benin, the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Republic of Costa Rica entered into a Strategic Partnership for Cooperation on Sustainable Development, signing an agreement on the 31 of August 2002. This agreement was the outcome of the collaboration of the three partner countries and the Kingdom of the Netherlands within the framework of the Sustainable Development Agreements (SDAs).

During the Joint Committee Meeting of the Bilateral Agreements for Sustainable Development in May 2005 the three countries reaffirmed their commitment to the pursuit of sustainable development goals and created the Programme for South-South Cooperation on Sustainable Development between Benin, Bhutan and Costa Rica (PSC).

The organization changed its name to Partners in South-South Cooperation in 2011.

Projects
Since its beginning Partners has managed 34 projects. Activities are orientated towards issues such as capacity building, enhancing existing social capital, technology development and transfer, improving market access and small investments in physical assets.

Sample projects:
 * Local capacity development on eco-friendly agricultural technologies
 * Promotion of sustainable cultural tourism through folk and multi‐cultural music
 * Development of eco- and adventure tourism to support forest conservation and community development
 * Conservation and sustainable management of mangroves
 * Mushroom promotion and marketing
 * Development of standards for women-run, eco-friendly micro and small enterprises (MSEs)
 * Development of low-cost renewable technologies and supporting awareness raising programs
 * Value chain upgrading for traditional and non-traditional agriculture and agro-industrial products
 * Sustainable production and commercialization of native handicraft
 * Development and marketing of organic soap
 * Introduction of organic pineapple production in Benin
 * Analysis and systematization of the contribution of national parks to the economic and social development
 * Capacity building for biodiversity information management systems
 * Development of non-timber forest products
 * Design and implementation of an integrated and sustainable system for solid waste management

Beneficiaries
Principal beneficiaries of the Partners projects are the partner countries’ citizens, especially rural communities, women, micro and small enterprises, consumers, users of energy, small-scale farmers and forest dwellers. Secondary beneficiaries are intermediate and participant organizations, such as grass-root organizations of the direct beneficiaries (like community organizations, cooperatives, associative enterprises, marketing boards), governmental and non-governmental development and environment institutions, local authorities, academic and research institutions and private sector companies.

Impact

 * 4862 new jobs created
 * Higher annual incomes for 4303 families
 * Creation of 139 new enterprises and 351 new products and services
 * Training provided for 3594 people on topics such as management and marketing skills, sustainable agriculture technologies and waste management
 * 700 people reached through awareness raising workshops on the conservation of mangrove ecosystems
 * 60 tons of waste per month sustainably managed due to construction of solid waste centers and recycling awareness training
 * 1.953 farmers and 716 hectares converted to organic agriculture
 * Eco-friendly technologies introduced to 3.891 households
 * Reforestation of 27 hectares of mangroves and planting of 122.000 trees
 * Distribution of low-cost photovoltaic systems, solar kits, sustainable disposable dry-cell batteries, collection baskets for batteries and low-cost solar cooking equipment.

Award
In 2010 Partners received the UNDP South-South Cooperation Award in the category ‘Partnership’.

Criteria for selection were:
 * Southern Priority/Demand Driven
 * Southern Ownership
 * Southern Leadership
 * Broad-based Partnership
 * Innovation
 * Efficiency
 * Sustainability
 * Scalability

From the jury report: ” The South-South Cooperation Programme has focused its efforts on three components of sustainable development: economic development, social development and environmental protection, three pillars that uphold one another. In its wide range of projects, including conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, and development of low-cost renewable technologies, global thinking has been translated into local performance by the people of three countries on three different continents.”

Governance and Funding
Joint Committee: The Joint Committee is comprised of high-level representatives from each partner country and provides political support and policy directions. The Joint Committee meets at least once every two years.

Management Board: The Management Board (MB) consists of three representatives of the National Mechanisms Benin, Bhutan and Costa Rica. The MB meets twice a year and meetings are held in English. The MB decides on the policies governing Partners and on the allocation of funds to projects. The MB jointly appraises funding to proposals submitted by the National Mechanisms after evaluation.

Secretariat: As administrator of Partners for South-South Cooperation, the National Mechanism of Costa Rica (Fundecooperación) provides the Secretariat. Tasks of the Secretariat include implementation, monitoring, transfer of funds, evaluation of proposals, reporting and external relations. National Mechanism: The National Mechanisms designated by the governments of Benin, Bhutan and Costa Rica are the key actors at the national level. Costa Rica: Fundecooperación para el Desarrollo Sostenible Benin: Centre de Partenariat et d’Expertise pour le Développement Durable Bhutan: Sustainable Development Secretariat

Partners in South-South Cooperation is funded by a 13,2 million US Dollar grant from the Netherlands for the period 2007 – 2011.