COMMITTEE ON REVIEW OF TECHNICAL COOPERATION AMONG DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO MEET AT HEADQUARTERS, 1 - 4 JUNE
Press Release
DEV/2209
COMMITTEE ON REVIEW OF TECHNICAL COOPERATION AMONG DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO MEET AT HEADQUARTERS, 1 - 4 JUNE
19990528 Background Release Theme: Role of Technical Cooperation In Accelerating Growth and Equitable DevelopmentThe role of technical cooperation among developing countries in accelerating growth and equitable development through broad-based partnership will be the theme of the eleventh session of the High-level Committee on the Review of Technical Cooperation among Developing Committees (TCDC), to be held at Headquarters from 1 to 4 June.
That theme was decided upon during the Committee's organizational meeting of 4 May, in which it also elected Patricia Durrant (Jamaica) as its President, Mohammed Ali Zarie Zare (Iran) and Ole Peter Kolby (Norway) as Vice-Presidents, and Naceur Gharbi (Tunisia) as Rapporteur. A third Vice- President will be elected following consultations within the Group of Eastern European States (see Press Release DEV/2207).
The holding of an organizational session not later than three weeks before the biennial session of the High-level Committee was part of a new format and working methods for the Committee, to make its work more interactive and to facilitate concrete outcomes from the deliberations. The introduction of the thematic element into the Committee's deliberations was another innovation towards that end, as was an interactive programme of work for the session.
The new approach was part of the Committee's new directions strategy, established in 1995 by General Assembly resolution 50/119, which called for a sharpened strategic thrust of activities by partners in international development cooperation, especially by the Special Unit for TCDC and other United Nations organizations and agencies.
Specific innovations to the eleventh session in line with the new directions strategy will include an exchange of views between delegates and, among others, John Ohiorhenuan, Director of the Special Unit. The session will include a thematic presentation of country experiences or case studies on the session's theme and the meeting of a working group to elaborate draft decisions and recommendations.
During the session, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will present specific proposals on measures the agency will take to further strengthen support for TCDC. As in previous sessions, the Committee will review progress made in implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action adopted at the 1978 United Nations Conference on TCDC in Argentina, following which the High-level Committee was established by General Assembly resolution 33/134. The Committee will also examine implementation of previous Committee decisions and its new directions strategy.
The High-level Committee's role is to make recommendations on measures for implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action and to monitor all TCDC activities of the United Nations system. The application of TCDC is considered to be primarily the responsibility of developing countries, with the United Nations development system acting as facilitator and catalyst. All United Nations Member States and specialized agencies are represented in the High-level Committee, while representatives of United Nations intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations attend as observers.
Reports before Committee
For its eleventh session, the High-level committee has before it a report reviewing progress made in implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action, the decisions of the High-Level Committee and the recommendations of the South Commission (document TCDC/11/1). The report contains an analysis of responses to a questionnaire prepared by the Special Unit soliciting information on issues related to promoting and implementing TCDC and reviewing the contributions of various actors. It concludes that significant TCDC initiatives have been undertaken during the two-year period of review. However, in the face of challenges presented by globalization, efforts to ensure that TCDC becomes a dynamic instrument for development have to be redoubled.
In keeping with the new directions for TCDC, the report states that modifications and refinements in the biennial questionnaires circulated by the Special Unit included a new focus on improving institutional capacities for managing TCDC activities, with an emphasis on national TCDC focal points. Other areas of emphasis include: resource mobilization and innovative financing; current bilateral and multilateral TCDC agreements; sharing of knowledge and best practices; progress in implementing the new directions strategy; and proven methodologies for expanding TCDC as an effective means of South/South developmental cooperation.
Based on progress in implementing the Buenos Aires Plan of Action, the report concludes that TCDC and South/South cooperation can serve as important instruments for channelling the capacities of developing countries to respond to the development challenges they face. The Buenos Aires Plan of Action will continue to guide action towards that goal.
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The report also concludes that TCDC has been most successful in countries where government has: put in place explicit TCDC policy linked with a national development planning process; established a strong TCDC focal point with necessary supporting structure; and earmarked national budgetary allocations or devised means for innovative use of external assistance, including triangular cooperation. TCDC has been less successful where those conditions are weak or non-existent or where external support remains a primary source for initiating such activities, the report states.
Recommending that developing countries make a deliberate effort to share their experiences in those areas, the report urges more focused and deliberate efforts towards identifying and making available capacities in such development fields as trade and investment, technology, employment and production, macro- economic management and poverty alleviation. The report also calls for: an increase of resources for TCDC; stronger ownership by developing countries; ensuring sustainability of TCDC/economic cooperation among developing countries (ECDC) arrangements through networking; South/South policy dialogue on critical issues of development and globalization; and improvement of South/South communication channels and access to information technology. Most importantly, common indicators for measuring progress on a more systematic basis should be developed by the Special Unit.
The Committee will consider a report reviewing progress made in implementing the new directions strategy for TCDC during the period 1997-1998 (document TCDC/11/2). The new directions strategy makes 20 specific recommendations centred on the need to adopt a more strategic policy and a substantive reorientation for TCDC. The recommendations focus on such high priority areas as trade and investment, debt, poverty alleviation, production and employment, the environment, macroeconomic policy coordination and aid management, all of which are likely to have a major development impact on developing countries.
In addition, the new directions strategy, as summarized in the report, calls for sharpening the strategic thrust of other activities carried out by international development cooperation partners, especially the Special Unit for TCDC and other United Nations organizations and agencies. Noting that the international environment for development cooperation has changed since adoption of the new directions strategy, especially the acceleration of globalization and the continued decline in development financing, the High- level Committee calls for a strengthening of the global partnership for TCDC by urging all organizations and agencies of the United Nations system to implement the recommendations of the new directions strategy.
The report on progress made in implementing the new strategy draws on information received from questionnaires sent to developing and developed country Member States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and agencies within the United Nations system. It
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outlines the implementation experience, stating that a major goal of the new directions strategy is to encourage TCDC actors to move towards sustained, broad-based actions, preferably involving groups of countries sharing similar needs, rather than separate activities targeting single countries.
Other aspects of the implementation experience covered in the report include: a summary of national TCDC management capacity; an outline of the "pivotal country" concept and its practice; a review of triangular cooperation, a relatively new phenomenon showing significant promise for enriching the content and dynamics of South/South cooperation; a sampling of partnerships built for TCDC; an overview of technical cooperation being integrated with ECDC; and indications of progress in sharing information and experience, such as through the creation of TCDC Web sites.
The report concludes that, in view of the accelerating shifts during the past two decades in the economic and political global order, and among countries and international institutions, the viability and attractiveness of South/South cooperation appears more compelling than ever before. TCDC has continued to grow in popularity and application among developing country partners, creating a sharp increase in country-to-country bilateral scheme projects, a recent phenomenon of donor-country involvement in triangular funding schemes, and a proliferation of partnerships among intergovernmental organizations, NGOs and other players within the multilateral system. The fine-tuning of the TCDC modality through the new directions strategy appears to have had a positive impact on the usefulness and applicability of the TCDC methodology, the report states.
As the application of the TCDC modality grows, the programmes themselves appear to be undergoing a steady evolution from the single, country-by-country interventions of TCDC's early days towards more broad-based applications on a multiple-country and even regional basis, the report continues. There is also a steady increase in the number of developing country Member States reporting suitable domestic conditions for management and implementation of TCDC programmes.
Based on national responses to questionnaires, the report continues, development cooperation activity depends on the establishment by national governments of three fundamental conditions: designation of an effective domestic focal point mechanism within the appropriate governmental ministry or department as organizer and coordinator; elucidation of a clear national policy setting out the methods and approaches for technical assistance with other developing countries; and the establishment of a basic approach for funding activities, whether through specific budgetary allocations or, in the case of more impoverished countries, through channels for receiving funding provided by bilateral partners or through the multilateral system.
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Two trends have been seen in the current reporting period with regard to funding, according to the report. One is the steady upswing in the number of developing countries making the necessary institutional changes. That growth mirrors and supports the system recommended by the new directions strategy, which designates "pivotal countries" with leadership potential as TCDC actors. The other trend, occurring particularly in the least developed countries, allows for the elaboration of appropriate policy and support for enhancing the TCDC modality to achieve improvements in governance institutions through the Special Unit of TCDC, which continues to provide advice and support based on the individual country's decision regarding ability or desire to absorb the assistance.
Among the most heartening trends emerging during the reporting period is the emergence of developed countries as third-party or triangular donors within the TCDC system, the report concludes. No fewer than six countries -- led by Japan -- emerged over the past two years to play a role in a variety of TCDC projects. By keeping an arm's length relationship with the projects, they remain true South/South technical cooperative projects, while demonstrating a commitment to TCDC as a viable, effective and efficient mode of inter-country transfer of skills and technology. Such an endorsement of the South/South cooperation mode, by partners from northern countries, could represent a significant breakthrough in funding and an increase in stature and legitimacy for TCDC.
The High-level Committee is also expected to consider reports of the Administrator of the UNDP on implementation of guidelines for the review of policies and procedures on TCDC by the United Nations development system, as well as organizational and supportive arrangements for TCDC (document TCDC/11/3).
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