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| United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation Director Jorge Chediek / Courtesy of United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation |
Korea is often cited as the world's first country that has successfully transformed itself from a recipient country of official development assistance to a significant donor.
The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) Director and Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation Jorge Chediek told during a recent interview with The Korea Times that the country's leadership is a valuable asset to the international community bridging between developed and developing countries.
Succeeding the Special Unit for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, the UNOSSC promotes, coordinates and supports South-South and triangular cooperation globally within the United Nations system.
"Korea was designated by the U.N. High-Level Committee for the Review of South-South Cooperation as a pivotal country. It has already played a bridging role between developed and developing countries," Chediek said.
"It used to be a recipient in the post-Korean War years, but is now the world's 15th-largest donor country. Korea understands both developing and developed economies' needs and goals. It is indeed a country that knows the issues driving both sides and can act as an effective bridge."
During his recent three-day visit to Korea, Chediek and his team met the government officials to discuss the ongoing project in science and technology.
"Our ongoing project with the Korean government was initially a product of the Science and Technology Forum of 2000. Initially, the project was implemented as a South-South Cooperation project with the United Nations Development Programme until 2009. We are currently in the second phase in the project," he said.
"The UNOSSC also met with other stakeholders to explore scaling up of triangular cooperation following the Buenos Aires Conference."
The Buenos Aires Conference above is the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA+40) that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in March.
The three-day conference concluded with a political declaration agreed upon by more than 160 UN member states renewing the global commitment to the promotion and investment in this type of collaboration between countries.
The agreement recognized "triangular cooperation complements and adds value to South-South cooperation by enabling requesting developing countries to source and access more, and a broader range of, resources, expertise and capacities, that they identify as needed in order to achieve their national development goals and internationally agreed sustainable development goals."
The UNOSSC also hosts the upcoming High-Level Celebration of United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation slated for Sept. 12. Under the theme of "Follow up to Buenos Aires Plan of Action+40: From Commitment to Action," the event will provide an opportunity to reflect on the implementation of the BAPA+40 outcome thus far and to announce new initiatives moving forward.
Born in 1960, Chediek graduated from Catholic University in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in political science. He then received an honorable master's degree from Georgetown University in the U.S.
He has been the director of the UNOSSC since 2015, leading the U.N. system-wide promotion and coordination of South-South cooperation for development.
