Initiative Mieux

Un événement unique consacré à la coopération Sud Sud. Dans la perspective de l'atteinte des Objectifs Mondiaux de développement durable (ODD), la "Global South South Development Expo" présente les nouvelles opportunités pour stimuler les échanges et la coopération entre les pays en développement. Atoutsud apporte sa contribution...

How I came to the South South Cooperation, for what benefits and findings…

Hakam EL ASRI, Atoutsud founder 

Newcomer

A few years ago, I had a distinctive opportunity to pilot an EU-funded project in the framework of the Migration and Asylum Thematic Programme.  The “Partnership for labour migration management” project was set to promote intra-regional cooperation and dialogue between countries of origin in Sub-Saharan Africa, and countries of destination in the EU.

Working on such a labour migration program entailed:

-        Establishing coordinated international partnerships involving public institutions and ministries, social partners and the civil society.

-        Providing technical input in various fields such as employment, vocational training, and labour migration.

-        Promoting economic development and migration links as one of the main components of the EU global approach toward migration issues.

Dealing with the migration phenomenon is a sensitive issue. Many human, political, economic and societal aspects need to be considered. The real or perceived instrumentalisation of the proposed paradigms -on EU global approach- and therefore the activities undertaken by the projects may be an important factor in the achievements of capacity building. Projects objectives might be even impaired by the South and North positions -respectively as sending and receiving countries- that can be diametrically divergent.

The involvement in this context of what I will call mediating countries to avoid antagonism between North-South relations was in my perception a welcome initiative. I chose to involve third countries that were not initially associated in the partnership on labour migration between sub-Saharan countries and EU member-states. Namely Morocco and Tunisia.

These countries had already initiated changes in their immigration policies with more advanced institutional and operational frameworks.

Over time, these countries have also experienced a significant evolution of their migration profiles. They became transit and destination countries. This implies a keen interest in the migration phenomenon and to a certain extent, the need of shared vision with sub-Saharan countries.

Morocco and Tunisia were immediately interested to be involved in the existing program. We started that kind of SSC with activities of benchmark and peer reviews.

I would already like to stress out at this stage two points:

-        Triangular cooperation appeared in this program as a way to mitigate the ideological confrontation between North and South especially when it comes to sensitive and political issues.

-        Mediation countries (note that at this stage I am not calling them pivotal countries) showed real interest in migration issues and hoped to find a real benefit from their involvement in SSC activities.

Among the first activities organized were peers revues. The workshops were intended to take stock of various initiatives and practices implemented, exchanges of views to help broadening the field of reflection and speculation, and thus expanding the scope of possibilities and enabling new representations. Even failures and dead ends were discussed. The main aim was to create confidence between participants but also the endorsement of potential partnerships that could be required or provided amid the institutions involved.

The starting point for this dynamic and the principles that were set up for the partnership were of paramount importance for the continuation and completion of additional and more complex activities. Backed by the project, we implemented partnerships of variable geometry according to the needs of beneficiary countries and acknowledged know-how of expertise provider countries. Morocco was requested to organise workshops on professional guidance and Tunisia was requested for diagnosis and tailored training sessions on entrepreneurship. Several study visits were also organised, enabling participants of sub-Saharan countries to explore development/migration issues as well as the methods used by Morocco and Tunisia to address these issues. Powerful bonds formed between the stake actors allowed the continuation and sustainability of these partnerships even after the end of the project.

Since then, convinced of the major benefits of this type of partnerships, I systematized as much as possible benchmarking processes and reciprocal technical assistance between third countries involved in capacities-building projects.

International context

Apart from these operational elements, it should be noted, on the one hand, a noticeable evolution of the world institutional context particularly favourable to triangular and South South cooperation approaches.

I will mention quickly -for the record- the various elements that characterise this new international context characterised by globalisation before returning to South-South cooperation issues.

Major trends of the ongoing globalisation are:

-        Propinquity and immediacy between nations arising over mobility facilitation instead of real closeness or cultural proximity. Subsequent implications are frequent encounters but also confrontation between ideas and international conceptions.

-        Facing the move of globalization, occurrence of emerging strategies as deglobalization or alternative-globalization.

-        Gradual rise of two relatively contradictory phenomena: expansion of multilateralism and regional integration next to escalation of cultural, religious and territorial affiliations.

-      Growing importance of non-state actors in global governance that strengthens the legitimacy of soft power and advocacy.

All these trends and their impacts lead us to reconsider the framework of international cooperation and development initiatives.

On the other hand, the new challenges for the Official Development Assistance under the post-2015 adoption of Sustainable Development Objectives hold a special place for South-South and triangular cooperation. SSC should take advantage of this specific context and establish itself as a credible alternative -or at least a complementary mechanism- to the traditional North south model.

Conceptual framework

Discussing South South or triangular cooperation necessarily engages, as a prerequisite, exchanges within a conceptual framework. Beyond the definition of concepts, it is essential to focus on the outcomes, impacts and modes of implementation entailed by SSC/ triangular cooperation in connection with the North-South conventional models.

SSC is often seen, beyond technical assistance, as an expression of solidarity based on a genuine partnership for mutual development. South-South initiatives are considered as a viable way to reduce disparities and better design and develop of capacity-building mechanisms – probably less sophisticated, but more efficient.

The countries involved are also more likely autonomous when they set their goals and priorities. Despite of alignment principles, the expectations of the North always play a significant role when it comes to North South cooperation.

A brief SWOT analysis -quotes from different training sessions I led- enables us to set out the framework of South-South cooperation and question our understanding and translation into facts with the focus on means and methods needed to maximize its impact.

SWOT analysis

Strengths

-        Contexts’ similarity

-        Models’ transfer

-        Replication of solutions

-        Balanced partnerships

-        Transaction costs

-        Solidarity ?

-        Existence of technical expertise

-        Diversification of knowhow and expertise…

Weaknesses

-        Limited financial resources

-        Donors in the North

-        Dilution of responsibilities

-        Difficulties of coordination

-        Expertise resources’ availability

-        Lack of technical assistance expertise (project implementation)

-        Lack of fundraising expertise

Opportunities

-        Regional integration

-        Establishment of peer networks

-        Co-development, viability and sustainability

Threats

-        North / South Competition

-        Level of expertise ?

-        Coherence of strategies ?

-        Aid Effectiveness ?

-        International governance

-        Replication of North / South models

In light of this short analysis, significant questions remain on whether there is any new standard of technical assistance implementation or the adoption/ replication of the North South model with ad hoc speeches and potential political exploitation?

Are we really expanding the range and scope of possible activities, possible results and possible impacts?

The hierarchy of various criteria taken into account in connection with SSC is extremely versatile according the stakeholders views and can be surprising. In a recent small survey we led on SSC added value, I was surprised to note that the appreciation of SSC was as the following:

-        “More favourable to the regional integration of the Global South” came first,

-        “More appropriate for development challenges in third countries” came second

-        “A real expression of solidarity more promising than North-South technical assistance “business” “came third.

Topics such as:

-        “an indication of emerging countries rises” or

-        “more operational with greater impact than other types of support” were at the bottom of the ladder!

The scale of the survey was quite narrow but those surprising results -at least in my opinion- paved the way for a broader study in order to better understand the perception and implications as well as the requirements and prerequisites of SSC.

Perquisites, projects’ implementation, expert and expertise

A project’s component related to triangular or South-South cooperation implies specific adaptations in operational implementation, monitoring, reporting, budget allocations… along with particular relationships required between the consortium leader and its partners: expertise providers or beneficiary institutions especially in pivotal countries.

It does not always seem obvious, but the position of expertise provider and the offering of international technical assistance imply for a pivotal country essential deliberations about one’s expertise and the claim or legitimacy for such involvement. The setting of particular organization in terms of pool of experts, their training, their demeanour in a multicultural context and code of conduct, tools and methods applied that can facilitate and secure the experts’ contributions …

It became fairly soon apparent that implementing SSC is quite demanding. It is not enough to bring forward, in international forums, all the benefits of SSC to translate them in practice. Requirements and perquisites of SSC remain not well known.

The setting is still moving and the integration of SSC mechanisms requires a real position shift for pivotal countries from beneficiary to expertise providers. This approach needs to be accompanied, particularly through trainings, exchanges of experiences and lessons learned, support to strategic development and backstopping. It is also essential that northern countries -either as donors or as technical assistant operators-  incorporate, into their proposals triangular cooperation mechanisms and involve emerging countries. Engaging in such collaborative opportunities can be considered and organised as a first step and a learning path to upcoming south-south cooperation initiatives.

BAYTI, qui signifie « ma maison » en arabe, est une organisation non-gouvernementale marocaine, reconnue d’utilité publique. Elle a été créée avec l’appui de Terre des Hommes en 1994. La mission principale de Bayti est de travailler avec les enfants de la rue à Casablanca, puis à Essaouira et Kenitra (ferme-école). Bayti se concentre actuellement sur la prévention de l’exclusion des enfants, sur la protection des enfants contre toutes les formes de violence, sur la réadaptation psychosociale des enfants, sur la réintégration des familles ainsi que la réinsertion sociale et professionnelle des enfants et des jeunes, sur la participation des enfants dans l’élaboration et la mise en œuvre de projets de vie, et sur la promotion des droits de l’enfant.

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INSAF est une association à but non lucratif fondée en 1999 et reconnue d’utilité publique. Insaf œuvre pour l’avènement d’une société qui garantit à chaque femme et à chaque enfant le respect de leurs droits dans un environnement digne et responsable à travers :

-          L'hébergement, l'accompagnement administratif, juridique, médical et psychologique, la formation, la réinsertion sociale et professionnelle des mères célibataires et leurs enfants.

-          La sortie du travail domestique, la protection, la réinsertion en famille et à l’école et le suivi social et pédagogique des filles mineures « petites bonnes » ou en risque de le devenir.

-          La sensibilisation et le plaidoyer pour le respect et l’amélioration des droits des femmes et des enfants.

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