Deeper South-South cooperation across the board needed to address challenges

Dima Al-Khatib, director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, called for deeper collaboration among developing nations to tackle global challenges at a Vision China event held at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.

"We are navigating converging, transboundary challenges — persistent poverty and widening inequalities, climate-related loss and damage, evolving public health risks and a rapid technological transformation that brings both promise and complexity," she said.

Al-Khatib has been a long-standing advocate for collaboration among developing countries, and she emphasized her office's mission to transform common challenges into collective opportunities by fostering partnerships that advance the Sustainable Development Goals and other internationally agreed targets.

"This gathering invites us to look beyond immediate responses and consider how governance can better serve the decade ahead," Al-Khatib said. "Revitalized multilateralism, anchored in the UN Charter and international law, is essential if we are able to translate our shared aspirations into tangible improvements in people's lives."

Al-Khatib has repeatedly mentioned that China plays a leading role in South-South cooperation, describing the support from China as "immense".

China and UNOSSC's partnership has been implemented in more than 150 countries, with initiatives including climate-smart agriculture in Africa, sustainable transport systems in Latin America, as well as digital trade solutions connecting entrepreneurs across the Global South.

"Drawing on experiences in poverty eradication, modernization and energy transition, China has helped expand connectivity, trade, knowledge exchange and innovation across the Global South," she said.

"Over the past decade, the Belt and Road Initiative, designed to be demand-driven and country-owned, has catalyzed cooperations in infrastructure, connectivity and green development. Platforms such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the China International Import Expo have broadened market access and opportunities," she added.

These efforts reflect the broader themes Al-Khatib outlined in her speech.

She emphasized that South-South and triangular cooperation offer practical avenues for achieving results and are essential for strengthening the multilateral system.

She also highlighted that inclusive partnerships involving governments, UN agencies, development banks, academia, civil society and the private sector are essential for expanding participation and ensuring that no one is left behind.

Achieving impact at scale depends on institutional learning systems that rely on evidence, data and continuous feedback to adapt and improve, she said.

In order to "translate these observations into practices", Al-Khatib said they should be linked to cooperation and global decision-making, and move from isolated projects to broader portfolios. This could be combined with promoting shared investment and ownership, building open knowledge systems for innovation and exchange, and strengthening data and reporting to ensure measurable results, she said.

"UNOSSC stands ready to work with all partners to expand the exchange of knowledge, mobilize resources for implementation, and scale solutions that leave no one behind," Al-Khatib said.

bilinlin@chinadailyusa.com