Work together to tackle poverty, AIDS: Annan

from New Kerala

Marking United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on developing countries to work together to tackle some of their greatest common threats and challenges, from extreme poverty to HIV/AIDS.

"Amid the perils and promise of globalization, South-South cooperation enables developing countries to share their experiences and successes with others," Annan said in a message for the Day.

He noted that expanding trade within the South and the emergence of multinational corporations from that region, generating jobs and wealth, is helping to increase the strength and scope of developing country partnerships. The faster-growing nations in the South are also serving as a key source of investment, remittances and development.

Recent gatherings such as this year's China-Africa Summit in Beijing and last year's South America-Arab Summit have indicated, he said, "a strong commitment among developing countries to maintain and increase this momentum".

By itself, South-South cooperation may not be sufficient to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But as one piece of a larger global partnership for development, it is already making valuable contributions, he added.

"The international community must not only applaud this trend, it must make every effort to support strengthened ties between developing countries." The MDGs are a set of time-bound targets for tackling a host of global ills, from extreme poverty to HIV/AIDS.