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3.
South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation 721. The Programme of Action refers to South-South cooperation as an important instrument for development and objective of resource mobilization. Subsequent summits and conferences have shaped the framework for South-South cooperation, including the South Summit, held in Havana in 2000; the High-level Conference on South-South Cooperation, held in Marrakech, Morocco, in 2003; the Second South Summit, held in Doha in 2005; and the High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, held in Nairobi in 2009. The framework of operational guidelines on United Nations support to South-South and triangular cooperation (SSC/17/3) highlights the key role that United Nations organizations can play in improving South-South knowledge sharing, networking, information and best practice exchanges, policy analysis and coordinated actions on major issues of concern. 722. Many middle-income countries have become active proponents of South-South partnerships. Emerging economies have made significant investments in SouthSouth cooperation. Traditional donors have recognized the value of South-South cooperation as well. This has reinforced South-South cooperation as a horizontal learning mechanism, well placed to boost the development of national capacities as well as promote triangular mechanisms that fund South-South partnerships with contributions from donor Governments. 509 723. An example of a South-South and triangular initiative enabling national institutions to promote horizontal cooperation in areas related to the Programme of Action is the intergovernmental organization Partners in Population and Development, established to promote South-South cooperation in the field of reproductive health, population and development. Over the past two decades the organization’s annual interministerial conferences have provided a peer review mechanism for the member countries on all aspects of population and development issues.
4.
Changes in the global burden of disease and corresponding aid 724. Since the adoption of the Programme of Action, the architecture for development cooperation has also been shaped by the response to the global crisis in HIV and AIDS, which has had a profound impact on the operational structure of new donor initiatives, for example, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the scale of donor support for a single, albeit complex, health condition, for example, the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief of the President of the United States, the scale of which has eclipsed many national health budgets; and an acute concentration of donor support to Africa owing to the exceptionally high burden HIV and AIDS in that region. 725. The scale of the epidemic and corresponding HIV- and AIDS-related resource flows heightened global political commitments to health 510 and dramatically increased recipient countries’ capacity to roll out HIV prevention and HIV and AIDS treatment. In countries where global health initiatives — the main funders of single-disease programmes — were well aligned with country priorities, HIV-related aid proved effective in strengthening the health system, promoting leadership and advocacy for HIV and AIDS, and led to unusual and sometimes innovative
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Report of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, Brussels, 14-20 May 2001 (A/CONF.191/13). Yu and others, “Investments in HIV/AIDS programs: does it help strengthen health systems in developing countries?” (see footnote 342 above).
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