South-south co-operation: recent examples from the water sector

Updated - Tuesday 25 July 2006

Calls for greater cooperation between developing countries have been reinvigorated by leaders such as Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in their anti-western rhetoric [1]. Add to this claims by ActionAid [2] that western technical assistance is often too expensive or ineffective, then south-south co-operation seems an attractive option. Countries such as China, Thailand, India and Brazil are increasingly active in south-south development co-operation [3].

Here are several recent examples of south-south cooperation in the water sector:

Iran and Afghanistan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in water and energy sectors [4]
Morocco and Mexico have signed an agreement on the exchange of technology in various areas of water planning and administration [5]
India is planning a major research collaboration with Mexico to study ways to tackle water issues in both urban and semi-urban areas, comparing water scenarios in Mexico City and New Delhi [6]
In reply to requests from Ministers of water from Ethiopia, Congo and Lesotho, Egypt said it was ready to provide its water expertise to African states [7]

Web site: UNDP - Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SU/SSC)

Sources:

[1] IRIN, 2 Jul 2006
[2] IPS, 5 Jul 2006
[3] North-South Versus South-South, The Networker, Jul 2006
[4] IranMania, 26 Jun 2006
[5] Morocco: exchange of technology agreement signed with Mexico, Source Weekly, 8 Jun 2006
[6] Indo-Asian News Service / Hindustan Times, 13 Jun 2006
[7] The Ethiopian Herald / allAfrica.com, 28 Jun 2006