Concept Note Session 2, 2019 LAC-DAC Dialogue on Development Co-operation

1. CONCEPT NOTE FOR SESSION 2
TRIANGULAR CO-OPERATION ON THE ROAD TOWARDS BAPA
+40
Paris, France | 21 February 2019
1) Dispelling myths and creating a common understanding of triangular co-operation
Since the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Co-operation
among Developing Countries (BAPA), at the 1978 United Nations Conference in Buenos Aires, the
development landscape has shifted, and international development co-operation dynamics and modalities
have evolved. Triangular Cooperation is a transformative modality that offers an adaptable and flexible
approach to evolving development challenges, builds on the complementary strengths of different actors to
find innovative and cost-effective, flexible context-specific solutions to development challenges. Triangular
co-operation complements South-South and North-South cooperation, creating coalitions around the pursuit
of shared development goals. Knowledge sharing and learning jointly are at the heart of trilateral initiatives.
Triangular co-operation builds ownership and trust by creating horizontal partnerships that tackle today’s
most pressing economic, social and environmental challenges.
A contemporary approach to triangular co-operation reflects new development actors and changing working
methods. As such, effective triangular co-operation is increasingly multi-stakeholder, including governments,
international organisations, civil society, the private sector, institutional philanthropy, academia, regional and
local governments, and others. It makes use of complementarity and comparative advantages and is based on
the assumption that three roles need to be identified for an activity to be considered ‘triangular’, namely: (a)
a beneficiary partner; (b) a pivotal partner; and (c) a facilitating partner. There can be several partners for each
role and roles may change throughout the life span of a project.
Now, triangular co-operation is part and parcel of the Second UN High-Level Conference on South-South Co-
operation (BAPA +40). In March 2019, all UN member states will take stock of the role of South-South and
triangular co-operation in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Therefore, a
discussion about the challenges and opportunities for future collaboration among representatives from Latin
America and the Caribbean (LAC) and members of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is
timely and the outcomes may feed into the BAPA +40 process.
2) Triangular co-operation is on the rise - it connects all regions and contributes to achieving the SDGs.
Countries in LAC and DAC members have a long history of collaborating in trilateral initiatives and are seizing
opportunities to step up partnerships. According to data gathered by the Ibero-American General Secretariat
(SEGIB), triangular co-operation in Latin America and the Caribbean has increased 8-fold in the last ten years.
The OECD is collecting evidence and data on over 700 triangular partnerships in its online project repository
and using this data to dispel some myths on triangular co-operation. Of these projects, 57% are implemented

2. among members of the DAC and countries in LAC, with 87% focusing on LAC and 13% collaborating among
LAC and other regions, such as Africa or Asia. Although, based on this data, LAC is a clear champion; it is not
the only region active in triangular co-operation. Besides interesting and innovative projects in Africa and Asia-
Pacific, there is a strong trend of an increase in multi-regional projects (i.e. projects among two or more
regions), especially involving the MENA region and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent
States (ECIS). Triangular co-operation activities differ widely in terms of scale, scope, regions, sectors and
project types, but – counter a widespread myth - they are no ‘small niche activity’, although triangular co-
operation can also be instrumental in niche areas, e.g. to implement the Paris Agreement through ‘green’
triangular co-operation (one third of the analysed projects). Moreover, small can go very far: Although the
average budgets of triangular co-operation projects are smaller than those of bilateral or regional projects,
their technical co-operation content can achieve a lot. Besides, as different partners contribute, funds can be
leveraged.
Partners in triangular co-operation achieve greater results than the sum of their interventions would have
yielded. Triangular co-operation does not only deliver direct development results: the collaboration enhances
the capacity of partners to tackle global challenges and to work together more strategically. It leads to strong
and trusting partnerships that often reach beyond the project. The Toolkit on identifying, monitoring and
evaluating the value added of triangular co-operation proposes ways to account for development and
partnership results. Overall, more evidence on how triangular co-operation works on the ground is needed,
e.g. through collecting data, reporting projects and increasing monitoring and evaluation of projects. In
addition, potentially higher transaction costs remain a challenge that needs to be tackled in the future.
Going forward, there is a need to raise more awareness about engaging the private sector, civil society,
institutional philanthropy, and academia in triangular co-operation, and to strengthen communication and
dialogue among different stakeholders with a view to speaking the same language, increasing evidence, and
assessing ways to scale up trilateral initiatives.
3) Advancing collaboration between representatives of LAC and DAC members
BAPA +40 is a unique opportunity to increase the visibility of triangular co-operation and to promote it as a
complementary modality to South-South and North-South Co-operation. It is a natural meeting space among
countries that are at different stages of the development continuum - with the possibility of peer-to-peer
learning and exchange. The Global Partnership Initiative (GPI) on Effective Triangular Co-operation is currently
preparing inputs for BAPA +40 with the support of many countries in LAC and members of the DAC. The GPI is
a global platform for sharing experiences and information on triangular co-operation and it is steered by
Mexico, Canada, Japan, the Islamic Development Bank, the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC),
the Ibero-American Programme for the Strengthening of South-South Co-operation and the OECD. However,
more needs to be done to make use of the full potential of triangular co-operation and to systematically
include it in the normal set of instruments of development co-operation.
Questions
• What could representatives from LAC and DAC do to engage more systematically in triangular
partnerships, creating synergies that promote innovation and make this modality more effective?
• What is your one key message on triangular co-operation for BAPA +40?
• How do you see LAC and DAC countries advancing this agenda after BAPA+ 40?