03/11/2013(Mareeg.com) Over $450 Million in Pledges, Investments as the 2013 Global
South-South Development Expo Concludes in Nairobi
UN General Assembly President John Ashe and High-level Delegates at
Closing Ceremony
investors, green businesses, governments and other parties at the 2013
Global South-South Development Expo as hundreds of participants
exchanged Southern-grown ideas, solutions and technologies throughout
the week-long event.
High-level delegates from 150 countries and across the United Nations
system gathered at the headquarters of the UN Environment Programme
(UNEP) in Nairobi to tackle development challenges by harnessing and
exchanging innovative solutions developed in the global South.
Among the many agreements made this week were projects ranging from
building organic fertilizer factories and clean energy projects in
Kenya to solar power plants in Uganda to green businesses for women in
Egypt.
Organized by the UN Office of South-South Cooperation and hosted by
development solutions created in the South for the South.
President John Ashe.
South-South cooperation is the exchange of resources, technology and
knowledge between developing countries. Today, over US$5 trillion in
reserves are held by countries of the global South, which now also
account for 47 per cent of global trade.
This unparalleled economic development opportunity could be one of the
main engines of growth in the years ahead.
South-South Cooperation is playing a vital role in facilitating this
Director Achim Steiner.
positive results, but they are overcoming barriers, building new
partnerships, creating new finance mechanisms, generating knowledge,
and sectors that are critical for a global transition to a low carbon,
Other high level participants throughout the Expo included former
President of Tanzania Benjamin Mkapa; Minister of Environment and
Energy and Acting Foreign Minister, Maldives, Mariyam Shakeela;
Vice-Minister of Environmental Protection of China Wu Xiaoqing;
Chairman of the Development Assistance Committee of OECD Erik Solheim;
UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson; UNCTAD Secretary-General
Mukhisa Kituyi; Under Secretary-General-General and High
Representative for the UN Office of the High Representative for the
Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small
Island Developing States Gyan Chandra Acharya; Director of the United
Nations Office for South-South Cooperation Yiping Zhou; and
representatives of more than 25 UN agencies, funds and programmes.
“You set out this week to share best practice experiences to impact
the plight of the poor and improve livelihoods. And you have
delivered,” said Mr. Zhou.
More than 40 companies were successfully matched and held business
Exchange (SS-GATE) event. Some 148 companies listed their projects on
the SS-GATE web-platform.
Corporation Ltd., a private company based in Tanzania, and Viability
Africa, LLC., based in Kenya, signed an agreement worth $21 million to
build a hydropower plant in Tanzania.
A high-level Leadership Round Table brought together senior UN
officials, Member States, business and corporate sector
representatives to share their experiences of South-South cooperation.
Moderated by CNN journalist Zain Verjee, the event focused on green
economy initiatives that have improved the Gross Domestic Product of
the poor, as well as the quantity and quality of jobs, in different
parts of the world. Participants also explored the role that
South-South cooperation will play in the years beyond 2015
projects in developing countries that are already contributing
tangible benefits to the environment, economic development and decent
job creation.
A total of 15 Partnership Forums were also held, with topics ranging
from youth volunteerism to China-Africa business in support of green
growth. More than 50 exhibitors showcased their innovative
For the first time in its history, the Expo garnered a strong online
presence with the help of volunteers who collaborated remotely around
the world on social media. The event was so popular that it trended on
Twitter in Kenya, meaning that the message of the value and growing
scope of South-South cooperation reached the next generation of
development practitioners, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, thinkers
and leaders.
Among other outcomes of the Expo were several major announcements by
governments. At the UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE)
Forum, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pledged to host the first global
PAGE conference in March 2014 in Dubai. The PAGE partnership, launched
earlier this year, assists participating countries in shifting
investment and policies towards clean technology, more
resource-efficient infrastructure and sustainable natural resource
management.
In addition, the annual South-South Cooperation Awards were presented
have been prominent champions of South-South cooperation throughout
the world.
The Secretary General of SOMESHA and the African Federation of
Environmental Journalists (AFEJ) H.E. Mr. Daud Abdi Daud who was taken
part the conference made a tremendous participation and share also the
conference participants about the current situation of Somalia.
To learn more about the Expo, please visit: http://www.southsouthexpo.org/.
Many thanks,
Rahmo Isack