Global South session at Tokyo United Nations Studies Conference calls for strengthening institutional negotiating capacities

Ambassador Amr Aljowaily, the strategic advisor to the African Union Commission, chaired a special session on the Global South forums at the annual conference of the Academic Council on United Nations Studies (ACUNS), which was held in Tokyo, jointly organized by the United Nations University and the University of Tokyo. 

Speakers at the session included Secretary-General of the Organisation of Southern Cooperation Sheikh Manssour Bin Mussallam, Executive Director of the South Centre Dr. Carlos Correa, Director of United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) Dima Al-Khatib, Senior Specialist, of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Philippe Aubert and Professor Katie Verlin Laatikainen editor of “Group Politics in UN Multilateralism”.

In his opening remarks, Aljowaily noted the importance of the current year as it witnesses the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Group of 77 with the holding of the Third South Summit and the passage of a similar period for the Non-Aligned Movement, which celebrated its sixtieth anniversary at the Ministerial meeting in Belgrade in 2021, in addition to the emergence of minilateral South forums such as BRICS+. He highlighted the importance of enhancing negotiating capabilities through institutional memory among the negotiators of the South, especially given the lack of a permanent secretariat in most of its groupings, and the importance of using digital platforms and tools to support negotiators from the countries of the South, to compensate for the relative lack of institutional secretariats, and networks of dedicated research centers and specialized academic.

Sheikh Bin Mussallam highlighted the newly established Southern Cooperation Organization, headquartered in Addis Ababa, as a pioneering experience to institutionalize cooperation among the countries of the South from its three continents in Africa, Asia and Latin America, resting on education as a priority for exchanging relevant experiences among member states, with the aim of strengthening a sense of collective identity stemming from common challenges and the benefit of cooperation. He called for horizontal solidarity between the countries of the South in addition to vertical cooperation with the Global North.

For his part, Professor Correa, Director of the Geneva-based South Center, reviewed the joint centers established by the Global South, citing the Non-Aligned Movement centers whose focus is on scientific and technological aspects. He recalled that the establishment of Group of 77 was linked to the initiative of convening United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as a platform for issues of priority to developing countries. He called for allocating more resources to these centers and enhancing cooperation among them to achieve the goal of achieving the interests of the South in multilateral negotiations and forums.

Al-Khatib detailed the efforts of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation in Policy and Intergovernmental Support, Capacity Development, Knowledge Co-creation and Management, and South-South Trust Fund Management. Aubert presented the activities carried out by UNITAR to build the negotiating capabilities of the countries of the South by relying on internal resources and joint projects with some member states, pointing out to the importance of enhancing skills and knowledge on specialized negotiating topics. Professor Laatikainen summarized the contents of her reference book “Group Policies in Multilateral Forums,” noting the important role played by the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77 in promoting multilateralism for achieving international cooperation to confront common challenges.