Delegates attending the inaugural meeting of the Regional Conference on South-
South Cooperation for Latin America and the Caribbean have been reminded that
there’s an urgent need for them to speed up implementing the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) as ‘time was running out.’
Antigua and Barbuda’s Director of International Trade Joy-Marie King spoke of
the urgency when she drew attention that the deadline for implementing the SDGs
was a few years away, 2030. She was speaking at the 1 st Session of the Regional
Conference on South-South Cooperation that convened this week in Santiago,
Chile under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean.
The meeting examined the progress and challenges of south-south cooperation in
Latin America and the Caribbean in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development.
“The 2030 deadline for the implementation of the sustainable development goals is
fast approaching in a reality where the global community continues to face major
uncertainties exacerbated by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,
reversal of long-term development gains, geo-political conflicts, increased
inflationary pressures, growing indebtedness of nations, lackluster growth and the
intensified climate crisis (which we are on track globally to exceed the 1.5-degree
Celsius warming target, outlined by the Paris Agreement) spelling catastrophic
consequences for small vulnerable states like Antigua and Barbuda,” she stated.
King further emphasized the important need to accelerate the implementation of
the goals and the mobilization of resources to fund said acceleration as they form
the blueprint for solutions.
“Bluntly, we need to get the goals back on track, as there isn’t any more room for
additional lost decades. The immediate and urgent cooperation of all nations
through solidarity and the strengthening of international development cooperation
is a must,” she explained.
The time has come for the leveraging of South-South and triangular cooperations
to empower our nations in addressing many of the challenges faced which have
and are impeding development pursuits is a vision purported by the Addis Ababa
Action Agenda, where the international community committed to enhancing the
quality, impact, and effectiveness of development cooperation.
King, however, cautioned that in pursuit of the above, “recognition and respect of
our uniqueness including size, levels of vulnerability and development and
sovereignty are critical.”
The Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the
Caribbean was established by resolution 752 (PLEN.36) adopted by the member
countries of ECLAC at the thirty-sixth session of the Committee of the Whole, in
December 2021. The meeting concluded on 31 st May 2023.
