The Future of South-South Cooperation

Cooperation South magazine interviews Roberto Savio, Director-General, Inter-Press Service.

Mr. Savio is also Secretary-General of the Society for International Development (SID) and Executive Director of the Technological Information Promotion System (TIPS). As one of today's most experienced development practitioners, Mr. Savio is well-placed to describe the future prospects for South-South cooperation. Sam Oglesby, Editor of Cooperation South, reports.

Cooperation South:

1. To give us an introductory overview, what are the most important issues to be dealt with in developing South-South cooperation?

Roberto Savio:

The most important overall issue which should be taken into account is the shift in South-South alignment owing to the effects of what we term "globalization." Globalization has been rarely touched upon in UN debates yet it is necessary to recognize and deal with this phenomenon: the centre of economic weight has shifted to Asia with an increasing marginalization of Africa. In the South there are now three players running at different speeds - South-east and East Asia, Latin America and Africa. And all three of these regions are trying to escape the realities of globalization through bilateral North-South agreements.

Within this framework of flux, it will be necessary to devise and implement a process which will provide South-South services and transfers which are as important as those offered through North-South exchanges. The Special Unit for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (SU/TCDC) can play an important role in giving perspective and guidance regarding what form these South-South exchanges can take.

There is another aspect which cannot be overlooked. This is special sense of identity of the South which is different from the North and which was given voice in the earlier years of post-colonial independence through such fora as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the New International Economic Order (NIEO). These differences are very basic and relate to the whole gamut of essential elements which constitute national, collective and individual life - the view of society, the function of the family, approaches to economic participation, traditional perspectives and culture, value systems, to name a few. This feeling of difference should be developed in a constructive way aiming at a b, solid self-identity and not as an anti-North feeling. Agencies such as the UNDP, and in particular SU/TCDC, can play a facilitating role in this regard.

Cooperation South:

There have been various prognostications - both positive and negative - about the future of development cooperation in its different forms. Is the picture basically bright? What do you foresee as problem areas? What contribution can be made by TCDC/ECDC?

Roberto Savio:

The future of development cooperation is very much tied to the climate created by the end of the Cold War. With the break-up of the bipolar alignment which had endured for more than forty years, the South lost a trump card in the game of international influence. Its ability to posture and maximize donor resource flows was abruptly diminished since the South could no longer be a key player in a conflict which no longer existed. With development aid no longer an imperative, the South found itself largely irrelevant on both the political and military levels.. Reinforcing this trend was a world-view which felt that global solutions should not be sought for any problem which could be solved locally. For example, national laws were passed and police forces were strengthened in response to surges in immigration from the South to the North.

In the short-term, I do not foresee any increase in official development assistance (ODA). In fact, a decrease is to be expected. With the United States cutting back, it can be expected that most other donors will follow suit and even though Japan may compensate with an ODA increase, it will not be sufficient to close the gap. And in any case Japan's ODA is Asia-centered and not really global. It should be mentioned that this bleak picture has its bright spots with Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden approaching the 1% target.

Spain is the only country which has recently increased its ODA (to reach around 0.7%) and the reason is interesting: a dramatic mobilization of public opinion. This is a hopeful straw in the wind at a time when we have a crisis of participation in most democracies. There is a widespread perception that political parties have become instruments of power and NOT vehicles for participation. They no longer serve the classic purpose for which they were developed and instead are seen by public opinion as alien and opportunistic to the needs of society. Citizens' groups and non-governmental organizations are stepping in to address the problems of a shattered social structure.

In this rather gloomy picture, TCDC/ECDC has an important role to play in helping the countries of the South to work more closely together to increase national and collective self-reliance as called for in TCDC's charter, the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA). If the South can realize this goal of self-strengthening, North-South relations will also benefit since dealing with a healthy, stable South is in the North's interest. The North had, in earlier times, been rather paranoic about South-South cooperation, but today even conservatives in the North have been converted.

Cooperation South:

Much has been said in recent years about the great opportunities presented by the end of East-West confrontation and the advent of globalization and liberalization. Are these trends creating a global framework conducive to sustainable human development? Are there dangers in this loose and open international order? How can South-South cooperation address this complex situation.?

Roberto Savio:

I have touched on the implications of the end of East-West confrontation in response to your second question. Let me continue by focusing more on globalization and liberalization. In many ways we are witnessing a return to the mentality of a century ago when laissez-faire capitalism held sway and responsibility for social well-being was not seen as a major concern for governments.

This is a déjà-vu situation where only the rich are interested in voting, where trade unions are in decline, political parties are elite clubs and social architecture - welfare systems -is being dismantled. We also need to note the simultaneous impoverishment of the middle class; the test case of the United States is emblematic of this trend which is now also rising in Europe. In the last 12 years, the US middle-class lost 11% each year to poverty. The implications for development cooperation are complex and not altogether negative. For one thing, the opportunity for an increase in non-governmental organizations activities and the involvement of community action citizen's groups is an area where South-South contacts can play a major role.

Cooperation South:

As a specialist in communications, would you share with us your ideas about the communications revolution and how these advances in technology can be harnessed by countries of the South in a ways most advantageous to their own development requirements?

Roberto Savio:

Much has been said about the information revolution, but let us note here two basic features: its rapid expansion - presently worldwide INTERNET membership is 30 million with a monthly increase of one million; and the affordability of the new communications technology which is becoming cheaper and cheaper so that soon its cost will be negligible. For the first time in world history we will be truly living in a communications-oriented society whereas previously global communication were blocked by natural and geographic boundaries as well as distance. Within the next 20-25 years, even remote villages, because of the drastic reduction in communications costs, will be able to be linked up to the global communications network and hopefully this revolution will return power to the people since the State will no longer be able to control or curtail communications and the spread of information. This phenomenon has important implications for democracy. This also has positive implications for TCDC since its promotion and expansion will no longer depend exclusively on a limited focal point network.

I see three levels of communication which need to be taken into account: exchanges at the institutional and governmental level; meso-level interaction taking place between, for example, Chambers of Commerce; and direct people-to-people contacts. TCDC can be active at all three levels, especially at the meso-level where it can contribute added value to the existing information. TCDC can also be instrumental in helping to create the necessary environment for a cultural of communications which needs to be nurtured in the South. Presently only 7% of businesses in the South are PC-equipped compared to nearly 80% in the North.

Cooperation South:

What about the role of the United Nations technical agencies vis-à-vis TCDC? Does the prospect of widespread use of TCDC mean a diminished place for the United Nations development system in technical cooperation?

Roberto Savio:

The UN development system, in my view, is currently in a state of crisis. There is a lack of strategy and conceptualization. Perhaps TCDC can be the pilot to steer development cooperation out of this confusion.

Cooperation South:

6. How can the organizations under your guidance - SIDS, IPS and TIPS - contribute to the renewal of TCDC as embodied in New Directions for TCDC which was recently endorsed by the High-level Committee for TCDC?

Roberto Savio:

SID, IPS and TIPS are, of course, different programmes, but they have points of commonality. SIDS, with its network of chapters and over 10,000 members worldwide, is an effective forum for debate, helping to focus on issues of importance, South-South cooperation being one of its important concerns. The 1997 SID World Conference to be held at Tokyo will focus on such issues as gender and cultural issues in the South which will be debated in detail at national and chapter levels before the conference.

IPS, which was founded in 1964, has the primary mission of giving a voice to the South. In the 1960s the information flow was very unbalanced with 98% of the news and information coming from the four main Western news agencies. Now the information flow is more global with the South a major player. IPS has been instrumental in promoting women in the field of information and supporting the capacity-building of journalists from developing country.

TIPS, as a multi-sectoral information network, has been concentrating on trade and technology and focuses on South-South and South-North exchanges. We hope that TIPS and TCDC-INRES will strengthen their mutual collaboration in the future.

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