Evaluación y comentario

As with the other modalities, a review of the status and evolution of regional horizontal South-South cooperation in Latin America shows the need to further refine its conceptual delineation. This Report describes the efforts carried out by the Latin American countries to gather and classify data relating to cooperation experiences that are both regional and horizontal.

The starting point was the 2008 Report providing a first interpretation of regional horizontal South-South cooperation. This form of cooperation was presumed to comprise the following characteristics:

- Cooperation was part of a regional consultation effort; - Two or more developing countries were involved;

- To guarantee horizontality (understood as unconditional dialogue between partners), the countries worked jointly, in coordination, to design and execute cooperation projects and/or programs. Also, cooperation was adapted to local realities, and aligned with national development plans and strategies of the recipient countries that sought such cooperation;

- Project execution was preferably entrusted to the government agencies responsible for the applicable public policies. The agency Secretariat, in coordination with the appropriate unit of the consultative mechanism, provided administrative and technical support for project execution;

- To guarantee reciprocity and equity, regional horizontal South-South cooperation projects received contributions in kind and/or financing from participants, often supplemented by funds from external sources.

In keeping with these criteria, the 2008 Report reviewed the dynamics of the cooperation systems of five regional agencies: the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA), the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), the Ibero-American Conference, the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), and the Central American Integration System (SICA), known by their Spanish acronyms. The analysis revealed a very heterogeneous reality as summarized in Table IV.1: the organizations developed their own characteristic cooperation systems, not necessarily in accord with the traits associated a priori with regional horizontal South-South cooperation. In fact, horizontality was not a defining characteristic of the cooperation systems as it was only apparent in a few particular experiences, so strengthening this concept unambiguously would be a major challenge.

Table IV.1.

REGIONAl

ORGANIzATION cOOPERATIONAND OPERATING SYSTEM

cOOPERATION AREASAND

PROGRAMS SOURcEOf fINANcING

Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas

(ALBA)*

In September 2007, it was decided to create a Technical Secretariat reporting to the Council of

Ministers and the Council of Presidents. At present, projects are approved by the Summits of

Heads of State

Most projects are in the energy and social sectors

(education, health, and sports)

Internal, economic and technical contributions from member countries (especially Venezuela

and Cuba, respectively)

Andean Community (CAN)

An International Technical Cooperation System was established.

The organs of the CAN submit proposals to the General Secretariat who then raises funds, outlines the programs, and supports and monitors execution

through a Technical Cooperation Unit

Programs are executed in sectors ranging from border development to cooperation between police and law enforcement or the promotion of democracy

and human rights

Mixed, combining international cooperation funds with variable contributions from member

countries

Ibero-American Conference

Organized around the Ibero-American Cooperation Programs. Member countries submit proposals. Each Program has a Technical Secretariat hosted by a Ministry in the sponsor country or by an Ibero-

American organization.

Usually in one of the following three areas: Cultural, Economic and

Social

Internal, contributed by the countries participating in the programs (with one particularity:

two of the countries, Spain and Portugal, are also international

cooperation donors) Southern

Common Market (MERCOSUR)*

The system comprises two mechanisms: the Technical Cooperation Committee (CCT)* and the

Structural Convergence Fund (FOCEM)*

Emphasis is given to strengthening the economic

and trade sectors, as well as the integration system

itself

Depends on whether the cooperation is executed through the CCT (external financing) or the

FOCEM (internal financing with country contributions according to

their economic reality) Central American

Integration System (SICA)*

The system is a work in process. At present, the International Cooperation Bureau

works with the relevant institutions to develop, manage and monitor regional programs

Executes projects in diverse sectors, especially

Environment, Tourism, Culture, Economy and

Social areas

Mixed, combining international cooperation funds with variable contributions from member

countries Source: Reproduction from SEGIB (2009). * Spanish acronyms.

In light of these results, the 2009 Report took a methodological step forward, switching from a review of the dynamics of cooperation systems to a study of specific cases, representative of regional horizontal South-South cooperation in the overall consultation process. Accordingly, six projects were selected and examined from those reported by Ibero-American countries, executed in the framework of ALBA, the CAN in conjunction with the OAS (Andean Health Organization), the Ibero-American Conference, MERCOSUR and the Mesoamerican Project. The conclusions are summarized in Table IV.2.

As the table shows, the selected experiences met the criteria of a regional horizontal South-South cooperation project or program. However, they had quite distinct origins: the first two projects (technical assistance between MERCOSUR member countries) flowed from earlier bilateral North-South cooperation interventions; two others (the Ibero-American and ALBA Grannacional programs) resulted from scaling up South-South bilateral projects to triangular and regional cooperation; the last two (Mesoamerica and Andean) were the only two originally designed as horizontal cooperation within their respective regional execution framework, with participant financing.

Table IV.2.

Genesis Original project Development of the resulting regional_{project/program}

Name Provider Recipient

Projects deriving from earlier North-South cooperation projects Enhance container and packaging technology for merchandise distribution in MERCOSUR*

Japan, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency

(JICA)

MERCOSUR

Before executing the project, several intra-regional technical assistance projects were carried out to correct asymmetries between MERCOSUR member countries: countries with greater capacities assisted lagging countries (Argentina aided Bolivia, Brazil helped Paraguay)

Enhance national statistical data

collection and processing systems

European Union (EU) MERCOSUR

Before executing the project, several intra-regional technical assistance projects were carried out to correct asymmetries between MERCOSUR member countries: countries with greater capacities (Argentina and Brazil) helped the lagging country (Paraguay)

Originally

Bilateral horizontal

South-South cooperation

projects

scaled up to regional

Human Milk Banks Brazil Several Latin American countries

The XVII Summit of Heads of State and Government in Chile (2007) proposed scaling-up this initiative to the regional level: the Ibero-American Human Milk Banks Program. The program was executed in all signatory countries (including Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela and Colombia). Financial contributions were made by all countries, but Brazil covered the core expenses.

Literacy program

“Yes, I can” Cuba Venezuela

Once its literacy rates improved, Venezuela joined Cuba to execute triangular cooperation in Bolivia and Nicaragua. Following accession by Dominica, Honduras and Ecuador to the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA)*, the Grannacional ALBA-Education Program took over execution of these South-South-South triangulations

Regional projects

with strong

horizontal characteristics and

participant funding

Biofuel program Colombia, through the Mesoamerican Project

El Salvador and Honduras

Construction of three biofuel plants in Honduras and El Salvador funded and executed by Colombia. Two objectives: promote renewable energy and an economic alternative to agriculture for local populations. Project will be scaled-up to Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Dominican Republic. Andean Border Health Plan (PAMAFRO)* Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela through the Andean

Community of Nations (CAN)* and

the Andean Health Organization (OAS)*

Colombia. Ecuador, Peru,

Venezuela

Bilateral technical cooperation between border countries: Colombia with Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru, on the one hand; Ecuador with Peru, on the other. Promotes and strengthens social and community organization to fight malaria. Funding (US$26 million for 2007-2011) provided by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Source: SEGIB (2009). * Spanish acronyms

This report continues to review interventions reported by Cooperation Agencies and/or Bureaus in Ibero- American countries. Nonetheless, in a desire to fuel the conceptual debate on regional horizontal South-South cooperation, changes were made to the criteria used in the preceding study. Specifically, as shown in Table IV.3, countries reported interventions that satisfied the definition of this form of cooperation, but were executed under different institutional frameworks:

1. A significant number were carried out under the umbrella of regional consultation: South-South undertakings only involving developing countries, such as the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), ALBA, CAN, MERCOSUR and SICA; also North-South undertakings involving Spain, Portugal and Andorra (in the case of Ibero-American Organizations) and countries such as the United States and Canada (Mesoamerican Project and Organization of American States – OAS).

Table IV.3.

Country

Institutional framework underpinning execution of Regional Horizontal South-South Cooperation

AEC 1 ALBA 2 CAN 3 MERCOSUR 4 IBEROAMERICAN Organizations 5 MESOCAMERICAN Project SICA 6 OEA 7 Other Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican R. Ecuador El Salvador Spain Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela

Note: 1) ACS: Association of Caribbean States; 2) ALBA: Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas; 3) CAN: Andean Community of Nations; 4) MERCOSUR: Southern Common Market; 5) COMJIB: Conference of Ministers of Justice of Ibero-American countries, OEI: Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture, OIJ: Organization of Ibero-American Youth, OISS: Ibero-American Social Security Organization, and SEGIB: Ibero-American General Secretariat; 6) SICA: Central American Integration System; 7) OAS: Organization of American States.

2. Interestingly, a growing number of experiences reported as regional and horizontal involved a different mix of institutions (classified as “Other” in Table IV.3). Examples include:

a) Interventions whose common thread was to join efforts to address sector problems: for instance, actions in the framework of the Conference of Ministers of Justice of Ibero-American countries (COMJIB), the Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labor (IACML) and the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP), under the umbrella of the Ibero-American Conference, the OAS and the SICA, respectively.

b) Programs operating as quasi-triangular cooperation scaled-up to the regional level, often involving non-governmental actors.

As previously suggested, the evidence justifies a new angle for the analysis, i.e., focusing on the institutional framework underpinning the regional horizontal South-South cooperation. The resulting conclusions add another dimension to the discussion about components, actors and principles that characterize this modality. Likewise, in view of the fact that reports include players such as Spain in several consultative mechanisms to which it is not party (i.e., CAN or MERCOSUR), the relationship between Spain’s primary cooperation instrument – Official Development Assistance – and strengthening regional horizontal South-South cooperation will also be reviewed.