27 November 2017 – Solutions to today’s critical development challenges exist in the Global South, and every country – large or small, emerging economy or least developed – has something to offer to the world, a senior United Nations official said today, as the 2017 Global South-South Cooperation Expo opened in Antalya, Turkey.

“The beauty of South-South cooperation – first and foremost – is that this modality of international relations relies on solidarity expressed in concrete and demonstrable sharing of technical know-how, experience and resources among developing countries,” said Jorge Chediek, the Secretary-General’s Envoy on South-South Cooperation and Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), at the opening ceremony.

Hundreds of participants from over 120 countries, including government ministers, development agency directors, and international and civil society stakeholders, have gathered for the world’s preeminent forum for showcasing, sharing, and scaling up innovative local solutions to global problems.

The event, hosted by the Government of Turkey and coordinated by UNOSSC, will focus on solutions “for the South, by the South” throughout the week. The theme “South-South Cooperation in the Era of Economic, Social and Environmental Transformation: The Road to the 40th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA+40),” aims to engage stakeholders to scale up concrete solutions from the South to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“South-South cooperation has gained a new centrality with respect to the 2030 Agenda, and despite the challenges before us South-South approaches provide a window of opportunity for us to share hard-won lessons,” Mr. Chediek said.

“Your presence here is proof that you are ready to take up the challenge; that you are ready to build bridges and partnerships; that you believe that solutions to today’s critical development challenges exist in the Global South; and that every country, large or small, emerging economy or LDC, has something to offer to the world.”

Since its inception in 2008, the Expo has featured documented best practices from hundreds of partner countries, UN agencies, private-sector enterprises and civil society organizations.

“Turkey began providing development assistance to countries in the region in the 1920s,” said Mevlüt Çavusoglu, Foreign Minister of Turkey.

Today the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) operates in over 120 countries, he explained, adding that Turkey ranks second in the world for humanitarian aid as per percentage of its gross national income.

Earlier this year, Turkey signed an agreement with the UN to establish a Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries to strengthen the science, technology and innovation capacity in the world’s poorest countries toward achieving the 2030 Agenda. “Knowledge-sharing is a priority for Turkey,” the Minister said.

One of the highlights of the week is the Exhibition, which was inaugurated following the opening ceremony and boasts 58 booths and 3 photo exhibits showcasing tested development solutions from the South.

The Expo takes place in the lead up to the 40th anniversary of the historic adoption of the 1978 Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA).

The Plan of Action set the agenda for the innovative concept of South-South cooperation and provided a foundation to build the institutional mechanisms and structures that have contributed to shaping the international development agenda and changing the landscape of the global South as it is seen today. Argentina will host Second High-level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation, marking the 40th anniversary of the BAPA, in March 2019.

This week’s gathering will focus on a number of issues, including climate change partnerships; peacebuilding; private sector engagement; science, technology and innovation; public service innovation; big data; youth employment and skills development; and women’s empowerment.

27 November 2017 – Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned Sunday’s attack allegedly perpetrated by the anti-Balaka group against a convoy of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, in which one peacekeeper from Egypt was killed and three others were injured.

&#8220The Secretary-General offers his deepest condolences and sympathy to the family of the victim and to the Government of Egypt. He wishes a swift recovery to the wounded,&#8221 said a statement issued by his Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq following the attack, which took place on the Bangassou-Kongbo axis in the country’s southeast.

With this latest attack, hostile acts have claimed the lives of 13 peacekeepers in the Central African Republic since January 2017.

The statement said that the Secretary-General firmly recalls that attacks against UN peacekeepers may constitute a war crime and calls on the country’s authorities to investigate the attack to swiftly bring those responsible to justice.

The Secretary-General reaffirms the determination of the UN to advance the implementation of the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), recently renewed by the Security Council, in particular to protect civilians and to help advance the political process in the country, the statement added.

25 November 2017 – Unless the international community tackles violence against women, the world will not eradicate poverty or reach any of the other Sustainable Development Goals, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message today for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

&#8220It is time to further our collective action to end violence against women and girls for good,&#8221 the Secretary-General said marking the Day, which on 25 November, highlights that around the world, more than 1 in 3 women in their lives have experienced physical violence, sexual violence, or both.

The Day also spotlights the work of women’s rights activists, who are being targeted at &#8220alarming levels&#8221, and violence against women politicians, which hamper women’s rights.

&#8220It is time for united action from all of us, so that women and girls around the world can live free from harassment, harmful practices, and all other forms of violence,&#8221 Mr. Guterres said.

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against women, one of the ways that the UN is helping the international community fight this scourge, is a grant system that has given away more than $129 million to groups and individuals supporting women’s rights.

The UN is also involved in the recently launched ‘Spotlight Initiative’ with the European Union to connect UN efforts with the work of national governments and civil society; and the UN Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Initiative.

Among other efforts, the UN launched a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment and has said that it is committed to continuing the ‘UNiTE to End Violence against Women’ Campaign, under the new title ‘UNiTE by 2030’.

Afghan women and girls

In Afghanistan, the top UN official in the country stressed that &#8220life free from all forms of violence is the right of every Afghan woman and girl.&#8221

Calling for violence against women in Afghanistan to immediately stop, Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said that no Afghan man will achieve his full potential unless women and girls in Afghanistan reach theirs.

&#8220For Afghan women to achieve their full potential and their immense capacity in development, in peace and in security, the violations of the rights of women and girls, particularly through violence, must cease,&#8221 he said.

&#8220Violence against women and girls is not inevitable,&#8221 said Rebecca Tavares, Country Representative ad interim for the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). &#8220There are many ways to prevent violence in the first place, and to stop its recurrence.&#8221

The UN family in Afghanistan stressed that alongside the effective legal and institutional mechanisms for access to justice, stopping violence against women requires an effort from all of us, from every individual, to speak out against violence in homes, workplaces and social settings.

24 November 2017 – Four United Nations peacekeepers and a member of the Malian armed forces were killed and 21 others were wounded on Friday in what Secretary-General António Guterres called “outrageous” attacks against the UN mission in the country.

Mr. Guterres joined his Special Representative for Mali, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, and the Security Council in strongly condemning the attacks against the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in the Ménaka and Mopti regions.

“The Secretary-General conveys his deepest condolences to the Governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and his profound sympathies to the families of the victims. He wishes a swift recovery to the injured,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

“He pays tribute to the dedication of the brave women and men of MINUSMA for implementing and defending the Mission’s mandate as well as to the members of the Malian armed forces, despite the increasingly challenging security environment.”

In a statement issued to the press, the 15-member Security Council underlined that “attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law.”

The Council reiterated that “any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed,” reaffirming the need for all States to combat, by all means, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

It further stressed the importance of MINUSMA having the necessary capacities, including combat convoy companies, to fulfil its mandate and promote the safety and security of the UN peacekeepers.

24 November 2017 – A United Nations expo next week in Turkey is set to highlight the critical role of South-South cooperation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in light of the vast array of knowledge, skills, expertise and resources that is, and can further be, shared among developing countries.

The meeting, which will take place in Antalya from 27 to 30 November, will provide an opportunity to showcase share solutions, initiatives and success stories, as well as explore new avenues for collaboration and partnership.

“It is about sharing with the spirit of solidarity and with the spirit of finding solutions to similar problems,” said Jorge Chediek, the Secretary-General’s Envoy on South-South Cooperation and Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).

In an interview with UN News ahead of the Global South-South Development Expo 2017 (GSSD), Mr. Chediek added that South-South cooperation can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs through enhancing productive capacity, facilitating trade and investment, and sharing contextually-appropriate technologies.

At the same time, he stressed that the SDGs require a global alliance with the engagement of all countries.

“South-South should not be seen as a replacement but as a complement to North-South cooperation. It will be an important one because it can produce and it can generate more relevant experiences and more relevant practices for other developing countries.”

More than 1,100 participants are expected at the Expo, which will feature over 50 exhibits highlighting cost-effective and replicable solutions to the challenges faced by developing countries.

“We have representatives from over 120 countries that will participate in over 35 events and there will be the possibility of establishing lots of partnerships, as a demonstration of the importance South-South cooperation has in the context of the achievement of the Agenda 2030,” said Mr. Chediek.