South Centre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The South Centre is an Intergovernment organization of developing countries. It has grown out of the work and experience of the South Commission and its follow-up office, and from recognition of the need for enhanced South-South co-operation. It is intended to meet the need for analysis of development problems and experience, as well as to provide intellectual and policy support required by developing countries for collective and individual action in the international arena.
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[edit] Nature and Structure
The South Centre came formally into being as an intergovernmental body of developing countries on 31 July 1995, when the Intergovernmental Agreement to establish the Centre came into force. It is located in Geneva, Switzerland, the heart of the international trade system.
Currently, 49 countries are members of the South Centre. The Centre, however, works for the benefit of the South as a whole, making efforts to ensure that all developing countries and interested groups and persons have access to its publications and the results of its work, irrespective of membership.
All countries signing and ratifying the Agreement appoint a representative to the Council of Representatives which meets at least once every three years and whose function is to provide guidance on the Centre’s work and activities, as well as to elect the nine-member Board and approve the appointment of the Centre’s Chairperson. The first session of the Council of Representatives was held in September 1995.
The Board, whose members are elected in their personal capacity for three-year terms, oversees the operations of the Centre, approves its work programme, assists in fund-raising and considers the budget and yearly audited accounts, and generally assists the work of the Chairperson.
[edit] Objectives and Functions
The South Centre has the following among its central objectives:
To promote South solidarity, South consciousness and mutual knowledge and understanding among the countries and peoples of the South;
To promote various types of South-South co-operation and action, South-South links, networking and information exchange;
To contribute to South-wide collaboration in promoting common interests and co-ordinated participation by developing countries in international forums dealing with South-South and North-South matters, as well as with other global concerns;
To foster convergent views and approaches among countries of the South with respect to global economic, political and strategic issues related to evolving concepts of development, sovereignty and security;
To contribute to better mutual understanding and co-operation between the South and the North on the basis of equity and justice for all and, to this end, to the democratization and strengthening of the United Nations and its family of organizations.
Broadly, the Centre works to assist in developing points of view of the South on major policy issues, and to generate ideas and action-oriented proposals for consideration by the collectivity of South governments, institutions of South-South co-operation, inter-governmental organizations of the South, and non-governmental organizations and the community at large.
In order to meet its objectives, and within the limits of its capacity and mandate, the Centre also aims to respond to requests for policy advice, and for technical and other support from collective entities of the South such as the Group of 77 and the Non-Aligned Movement.
These functions are carried out by means of policy-oriented research and analysis and by publishing and disseminating as widely as possible the results of its work.
[edit] Activities
The Centre is organised into three major Programmes: Trade for Development; Innovation, Access to Knowledge and Intellectual Property[1]; and Global Governance for Development[2]. These three programmes provide technical assistance, research and policy analysis to developing country representatives in Geneva and in capitals.
On 10-11 July 2006, the South Centre organized a workshop on the South Intellectual Platform: New Challenges for the South: Opportunities and Risks (Revisiting the South Commission's Report 15 Years Later). The workshop was attended by over 20 eminent experts and intellectuals mostly from the South, but also by some friends of the South in the North. You will find the complete list of participants and the workshop proceedings at: http://www.southcentre.org/SIP/sipindex.html
