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Solidarity Rising: Global Alliance for Inclusive and Innovative Development

±¬ÁÏÍø Day for South-South Cooperation celebrates the growing solidarity, collaboration and exchange of practical solutions among countries of the Global South. It recognizes that every country has valuable knowledge, experience and innovation to share, and that progress is strongest when countries learn from one another.

In 2026, the Day is observed under the theme ¡°Solidarity Rising: Global Alliance for Inclusive and Innovative Development.¡± The theme highlights how South-South and triangular cooperation can help countries connect proven solutions with the partnerships, expertise and support needed to scale them.

Across the Global South, countries are increasingly sharing solutions in areas such as renewable energy, digital innovation, public health, sustainable agriculture, disaster preparedness, education and public services. These exchanges help countries adapt successful approaches to their own needs and accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

The 2026 observance will also mark the launch of the , a voluntary, ±¬ÁÏÍø-facilitated platform convened by the . The Alliance is designed to connect country priorities with expertise, partnerships and catalytic support, helping turn shared experience into practical action.

Key messages for South-South cooperation in 2026:

• Solidarity is rising across the Global South ¨C Countries are increasingly turning to one another to exchange knowledge, experience and practical solutions to shared development challenges.
• Solutions already exist and need to be scaled ¨C Many proven approaches are available across developing countries, but they often remain fragmented, underused or difficult to access.
• The Global Alliance will help connect needs with solutions ¨C The new platform will help countries and partners identify priorities, share expertise, build partnerships and support cooperation across regions and sectors.
• South-South and triangular cooperation are means of implementation ¨C These forms of cooperation help countries mobilize expertise, strengthen capacities, diversify partnerships and advance nationally owned Sustainable Development Goal priorities.
• Collective action can move solutions further, faster ¨C Governments, United Nations entities, development partners, financial institutions, academia, civil society and the private sector all have roles to play in scaling successful solutions.

The Global Alliance for South-South and Triangular Cooperation

The is a voluntary, ±¬ÁÏÍø-facilitated platform convened by ±¬ÁÏÍøOSSC. It connects country priorities with expertise, partnerships and catalytic support so that shared experience can become real-world solutions.

The Alliance provides a trusted space where governments and partners can share priorities, identify proven solutions, build partnerships and co-create initiatives across regions. It complements existing South-South cooperation initiatives by helping partners find each other more efficiently and mobilize knowledge, technology, training opportunities, in-kind support and other forms of cooperation.

What the Global Alliance does:

• Connects partners by linking country needs with relevant expertise and cooperation opportunities.
• Scales solutions by helping proven local innovations reach regional and global audiences.
• Supports implementation by encouraging technical exchanges, policy dialogue, pilot initiatives and triangular cooperation partnerships.
• Mobilizes catalytic support by creating opportunities for partners to contribute resources, knowledge, technology, training or in-kind support.

What to know about South-South cooperation

1. Why it matters

South-South cooperation is a manifestation of solidarity among peoples and countries of the South. It contributes to their national well-being, national and collective self-reliance, and the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Operationally, South-South cooperation for development is a process whereby two or more developing countries pursue their individual or shared national capacity-development objectives by exchanging knowledge, skills, resources and technical know-how, and by taking collective action at the regional, interregional and global levels.

South-South cooperation is not a substitute for North-South cooperation. It complements it by supporting country-led partnerships among developing countries, guided by the principles of respect for national sovereignty, national ownership and independence, equality, non-conditionality, non-interference in domestic affairs and mutual benefit.

Triangular cooperation involves Southern-driven partnerships between two or more developing countries, supported by a developed country or countries, or by multilateral organizations, to implement development cooperation programmes and projects.

The basic objectives of South-South collaboration are drawn from the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, endorsed by the General Assembly in 1978.

2. Its Objectives

• Foster the self-reliance of developing countries by strengthening their creative capacity to find solutions to their development problems in keeping with their own aspirations, values and specific needs.
• Promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among developing countries through the exchange of experiences, the pooling and sharing of technical and other resources, and the development of complementary capacities.
• Strengthen the capacity of developing countries to identify and analyse their main development issues and formulate the strategies needed to address them.
• Increase the quantity and enhance the quality of international development cooperation by pooling capacities and improving the effectiveness of resources devoted to such cooperation.
• Create and strengthen technological capacities in developing countries so that such capacities can be used more effectively and adapted to specific development needs.
• Increase and improve communication among developing countries, leading to greater awareness of common problems, wider access to available knowledge and experience, and the creation of new knowledge.
• Recognize and respond to the problems and requirements of Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, Small Island Developing States and countries most seriously affected by natural disasters and other crises.
• Enable developing countries to achieve greater participation in international economic activities and expand international cooperation for development.

3. Its impact in a changing world

Developing countries are navigating complex and interconnected challenges, including climate change, food insecurity, widening digital gaps, financing constraints and growing vulnerabilities. At the same time, countries of the Global South are increasingly driving innovation, expanding trade and investment, and sharing practical solutions.

South-South trade reached US$6.8 trillion in 2025. More than half of exports from developing countries are now destined for other developing economies, compared with 38 per cent three decades ago. Foreign direct investment flows among developing countries have also quadrupled since the 1990s, with their share of global foreign direct investment rising from 9 per cent to 32 per cent during the period 2020¨C2023.

These trends show the growing economic weight, influence and interconnectedness of developing countries. They also show why South-South and triangular cooperation are increasingly important for sharing expertise, strengthening resilience and advancing sustainable development.

Convened by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, the Global Alliance is a voluntary, ±¬ÁÏÍø-facilitated platform that connects country priorities with expertise, partnerships and catalytic support.

• Join as a partner to share expertise and priorities.
• Submit an initiative to share a proven solution or development need.
• Provide support through resources, expertise, technology or in-kind contributions.
• Collaborate technically through exchanges and co-created development initiatives.

The Global Report on South-South and Triangular Cooperation highlights how countries of the Global South are driving innovation, sharing solutions and forging new partnerships to address complex development challenges.

South-South cooperation in action: FAO, China and CELAC project reaches 4,000 people

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