In 2025, the United Nations marks the Day for South-South Cooperation under the theme:
“Exploring New Opportunities and Innovations through South-South and Triangular Cooperation.”

In the wake of the 2024 Summit of the Future, the world continues to face complex and interconnected challenges: climate change, unsustainable debt, persistent food insecurity, a widening digital divide… While more than 650 million people still live in extreme poverty, many countries are struggling to fund essential public services, burdened by the weight of debt. In this context, South-South and triangular cooperation stand out as vital levers to provide concrete, local, and solidarity-based solutions, complementing traditional aid models, which have become increasingly obsolete.

Every year on 12 September, the world celebrates the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation. This date commemorates the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA) in 1978, during the UN Conference on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC). The plan was a milestone in structuring and strengthening South-South cooperation, with the objective of institutionalizing it at the global level.

This day offers a crucial opportunity to reaffirm the importance of fostering lasting collaboration between countries of the Global South and to encourage cross-border solidarity to achieve major development goals, address global challenges, and deliver on the sustainable development agenda.

The 2025 theme – “New Opportunities and Innovation through South-South and Triangular Cooperation” – highlights the growing importance of the Global South in finding innovative responses to global issues. These modes of cooperation promote knowledge-sharing, networking of successful initiatives, and the strengthening of inclusive partnerships.

UN priorities for this year include:

More sustainable and smart financing,

Strengthening resilience to multiple crises,

Accelerating progress towards the SDGs,

And highlighting Southern leadership.

Tools such as South-South Galaxy and the Solutions Lab are instrumental in amplifying these efforts globally, to build a more equitable and sustainable future.

Numerous cooperation initiatives between Southern countries have been successfully carried out, testifying to the strong will for solidarity among the peoples, governments, and nations of the Global South. Through this commemorative day, CAFRAD celebrates the progress made, and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to work hand in hand with its member states, and with all African countries and nations of the Global South, to lift our societies toward a more prosperous future.

At the organizational level, the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) plays a central role in promoting and operationalizing these partnerships globally. It supports the implementation of cooperation projects, ensures the success of partnerships within the UN System, facilitates the exchange of information, expertise, and innovative practices, and helps design public policies that foster South-South collaboration.

CAFRAD, for its part, proudly celebrates this day of cooperation – a reminder of the power of African solidarity, which led to the creation of this intergovernmental organization in 1962, with a mandate to exchange best practices and promote administrative innovation across the continent.

Today, more than 63 years after its founding, the call for cooperation and mutual support is louder and more urgent than ever. In a world undergoing constant transformation, our administrative systems must continually adapt, reform, and display agility to navigate repeated crises and an increasingly complex global landscape.

South-South cooperation is a mindset—one rooted in mutual trust, respect, and co-construction. By strengthening dialogue, we create inclusive and sustainable development opportunities for all.