A/RES/80/156 GA

United Nations A/RES/80/156 General Assembly Distr.: General 18 December 2025 25-20753 (E) *2520753* Eightieth session Agenda item 23 (b) Operational activities for development: South-South cooperation for development Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 15 December 2025 [on the report of the Second Committee (A/80/555, para. 7)] 80/156. South-South cooperation The General Assembly, Reaffirming its resolution 73/291 of 15 April 2019, in which it endorsed the Buenos Aires outcome document of the second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, Reaffirming also its resolution 64/222 of 21 December 2009, in which it endorsed the Nairobi outcome document of the High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, Reaffirming further its resolution 33/134 of 19 December 1978, in which it endorsed the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries,1 Recalling its resolutions 57/270 B of 23 June 2003, 60/212 of 22 December 2005, 62/209 of 19 December 2007, 63/233 of 19 December 2008, 64/1 of 6 October 2009, 66/219 of 22 December 2011, 67/227 of 21 December 2012, 68/230 of 20 December 2013, 69/239 of 19 December 2014, 70/222 of 22 December 2015, 71/244 of 21 December 2016, 72/237 of 20 December 2017, 73/249 of 20 December 2018, 74/239 of 19 December 2019, 75/234 of 21 December 2020, 76/221 of 17 December 2021, 77/185 of 14 December 2022, 78/167 of 19 December 2023 and 79/236 of 24 December 2024, Reaffirming its resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in which it adopted a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal and transformative _______________ 1 Report of the United Nations Conference on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, Buenos Aires, 30 August–12 September 1978 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.78.II.A.11 and corrigendum), chap. I. A/RES/80/156 South-South cooperation 25-20753 2/10 Sustainable Development Goals and targets, its commitment to working tirelessly for the full implementation of the Agenda by 2030, its recognition that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, its commitment to achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – in a balanced and integrated manner, and to building upon the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and seeking to address their unfinished business, Reaffirming also its resolution 69/313 of 27 July 2015 on the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, supports and complements it, helps to contextualize its means of implementation targets with concrete policies and actions and reaffirms the strong political commitment to address the challenge of financing and creating an enabling environment at all levels for sustainable development in the spirit of global partnership and solidarity, Reaffirming further the Paris Agreement 2 and its early entry into force, encouraging all its Parties to fully implement the Agreement, and Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 3 that have not yet done so to deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, where appropriate, as soon as possible, Welcoming the convening of the Summit of the Future on 22 to 23 September 2024 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, at which resolution 79/1 entitled the “Pact for the Future” and its annexes were adopted, Welcoming also the convening of the sixteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in Geneva, from 20 to 23 October 2025, and looking forward to the continued work of the Conference on issues related to South- South cooperation, triangular cooperation and regional cooperation, including by promoting dialogue between economic integration structures with a view to enhancing mutual trade and exchanging best practices and experiences, towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, Welcoming the convening of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development from 30 June to 3 July 2025 in Sevilla, Spain, and reaffirming its outcome document, the Sevilla Commitment, endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 79/323 of 25 August 2025, which sets forth a renewed global framework for financing for development, building on the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda, 4 to close with urgency the estimated annual 4 trillion United States dollar financing gap, 5 and catalyse sustainable development investments at scale in developing countries and continue the reform of the international financial architecture through continued and strong commitment to multilateralism, international cooperation, and global solidarity, Reaffirming that South-South cooperation is an important element of international cooperation for development, and is not a substitute for, but rather a complement to, North-South cooperation, and recalling the commitment to enhance the impact and effectiveness of South-South cooperation, guided by the principles of _______________ 2 Adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1, decision 1/CP.21, annex. 3 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1771, No. 30822. 4 General Assembly resolution 69/313, annex. 5 Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2024 (United Nations publication, 2024), figure I.1. South-South cooperation A/RES/80/156 3/10 25-20753 respect for national sovereignty, national ownership and independence, equality, non‑conditionality, non‑interference in domestic affairs and mutual benefit, Recalling the commitment to enhance triangular cooperation by fostering deeper collaboration and partnerships, ensuring knowledge exchange, aligning efforts with the Sustainable Development Goals and leveraging innovative financing mechanisms to enhance its sustainability and impact, Encouraging the continuation and advancement of South-South and triangular cooperation on efforts for recovery from the socioeconomic effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID‑19) pandemic and other multiple crises in the pursuit of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, and calling for continued support from the relevant United Nations development system entities in that regard, particularly in the areas of poverty eradication and food security, promoting decent work as well as reducing inequalities, and promoting resilience, including through the establishment of vaccine production facilities in developing countries and strengthening of health systems and economic diversification in developing countries, Recognizing the special challenges facing all developing countries in pursuing sustainable development, in particular African countries, the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, as well as the specific challenges facing middle-income countries and countries in conflict and post-conflict situations, Recognizing also that climate change, the continuing impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic, ongoing geopolitical tensions and conflicts and a turbulent and uncertain global economic outlook are creating additional challenges relating to the eradication of poverty, food security, energy security and the cost of living, and that developing countries are disproportionately affected by these challenges, Underlining the importance of South-South and triangular cooperation for the least developed countries, in particular with regard to technical assistance, and the sharing of best practices in terms of their sustainable development, especially in areas of productive capacity-building, infrastructure, energy, strengthening labour markets and promoting decent work, science and technology, trade, investment and transit transport cooperation, Stressing the important role of South-South and triangular cooperation in addressing the development needs of middle-income countries, including through capacity-building, promoting decent work and fostering peer-learning and sharing of best practices among middle-income countries across the regions, Looking forward to the elaboration of a system-wide response plan aimed at better addressing the multidimensional nature of sustainable development and facilitating sustainable development cooperation and coordinated and inclusive support to middle-income countries based on their specific challenges and diverse needs, Reaffirming the importance of a renewed framework for international support to address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and to strengthen partnerships between the landlocked developing countries and transit countries and their development partners to ensure the implementation of the Awaza Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2024–2034,6 Welcoming the ongoing efforts to enhance South-South and triangular cooperation in the area of trade under the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries as a vehicle to support economic resilience and promote _______________ 6 Resolution 79/233, annex; see also resolution 79/279. A/RES/80/156 South-South cooperation 25-20753 4/10 sustainable development, and looking forward to the continued work of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to support developing countries in deepening and enlarging South-South trade integration, regional, subregional and interregional economic integration and cooperation arrangements, Welcoming also the development of an initial voluntary conceptual framework for the measurement of South-South cooperation, which marks a breakthrough in its measurement on the basis of country-led mechanisms and helps to shed light on the importance of South-South cooperation towards achieving the 2030 Agenda, by adding for the first time country-owned data on South-South cooperation in assessing the contributions of such cooperation to sustainable development, Welcoming further the launch of the Manual for the Framework to Measure South-South Cooperation: Technical and Procedural Aspects for Pilot Testing, by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in collaboration with United Nations regional commissions and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to quantify South- South cooperation through the collection and reporting of South-South data, Recalling that triangular cooperation complements and adds value to South- South cooperation by enabling requesting developing countries to source and access more, and a broader range of, resources, expertise and capacities, that they identify as needed in order to achieve their national development goals and internationally agreed sustainable development goals, Taking note of the initiatives of the United Nations regional commissions in leveraging South-South and triangular cooperation for digital transformation, which provides support in fully harnessing the potential of digitalization, Taking note also of the establishment by the United Nations Office for South- South Cooperation of a triangular cooperation window under the United Nations Fund for South-South Cooperation, launched on 7 October 2024 in Lisbon, Reaffirming the mandate and the central role of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation as the focal point for promoting and facilitating South- South and triangular cooperation for development on a global and United Nations system-wide basis, and noting with appreciation the actions taken by the Office in strengthening the United Nations system-wide coordination on South-South and triangular cooperation, which has served as a channel to facilitate the mainstreaming of South-South and triangular cooperation into the corporate strategies and operational activities of United Nations entities, Noting the development of a handbook by the United Nations Office for South- South Cooperation on integrating South-South and triangular cooperation in the voluntary national reviews in collaboration with the Co-Chairs of the Group of Friends of the Voluntary National Reviews, Morocco and the Philippines, Stressing that financing for South-South cooperation initiatives require concerted and coordinated efforts from Member States, United Nations entities, international financial institutions, regional and subregional development banks and the private sector, Welcoming the efforts and contributions of developing countries in providing finance for sustainable development, Reiterating the pledge that no one will be left behind, reaffirming the recognition that the dignity of the human person is fundamental, and the wish to see the Goals and targets met for all nations and peoples and for all segments of society, and recommitting to endeavour to reach the furthest behind first, South-South cooperation A/RES/80/156 5/10 25-20753 1. Recalls the convening of the second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation in Buenos Aires from 20 to 22 March 2019 and its outcome document,7 and calls upon the international community to support the full implementation of the outcome document of the second High-level Conference; 2. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the state of South- South cooperation;8 3. Reaffirms its support for the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation, recalls its decisions 22/1 and 22/2 adopted during its twenty-second session, held from 27 to 30 May 2025, and looks forward to the convening of the twenty-third session of the Committee, to be held in 2027; 4. Takes note of the recommendation contained in the report of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme on a review of the outcome document of the second High-level Conference, and requests the President of the General Assembly to appoint two co-facilitators, one from a developing country and one from a developed country, at the eightieth session of the Assembly to facilitate an intergovernmental process on the modalities of the review of the outcome document of the Conference, within existing resources; 5. Recognizes the contribution of and the need to scale up and strengthen South-South and triangular cooperation as a complementary means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, including in achieving the overarching goal of the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, and the goals of, inter alia, ending hunger, improving nutrition, reducing inequalities, within and among countries, promoting decent work as well as for the use, capacity-building and transfer of digital technologies, on mutually agreed terms, to accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and close the digital divides; 6. Encourages the continuation and advancement of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation on efforts for COVID‑19 response and recovery from the socioeconomic effects of the pandemic and other multiple crises in the pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development9 and its Sustainable Development Goals, and calls for continued support from the relevant United Nations development system entities in that regard, particularly in areas such as equitable and non‑discriminatory access to safe, quality, effective and affordable healthcare and services and medical supplies and equipment, including diagnostics, therapeutics, medicine and other health products, vaccines, as well as digitalization, the environment, climate change, social protection and the eradication of poverty, noting that the world needs a stronger, better coordinated, inclusive and more agile global health architecture for pandemic prevention, preparedness, response and recovery to stop the severe impact of future outbreaks; 7. Welcomes the support of development partners for triangular cooperation towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the global South, and urges developed countries and multilateral partners to continue providing financial, scientific and technological assistance and capacity-building to developing countries, to close the digital divides and to better harness science, technology and innovation to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030; _______________ 7 Resolution 73/291, annex. 8 A/80/256. 9 Resolution 70/1. A/RES/80/156 South-South cooperation 25-20753 6/10 8. Urges Member States and United Nations entities to strengthen South- South and triangular cooperation on access to science, technology and innovation by creating synergies, developing expertise and boosting resources in different regions and institutions, and in this regard notes with appreciation the convening of the Summit on Science, Technology and Innovation by the Group of 77 and China, in Havana on 15 and 16 September 2023, as an effort to boost cooperation in this field to increase its benefit to all people; 9. Encourages Member States, with the support of the United Nations development system, to facilitate the development of and access to appropriate technologies, promote digital transitions and foster the exchange of innovative practices through South-South and triangular cooperation, with the aim of safeguarding the interests of present and future generations, and to integrate science, digital technologies, including emerging ones, and data governance into national and international development strategies; 10. Encourages Member States and all relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, to establish or strengthen coordinated mechanisms at the subnational, national, regional and global levels to leverage the expertise and other resources of multi- stakeholder partnerships to support South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation initiatives towards the attainment of the 2030 Agenda, while acknowledging that governments have the principal role of coordinating and leading development efforts; 11. Takes note of the various experiences and locally driven development approaches to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and reiterates the importance of learning and sharing good practices, including through South-South, North-South and triangular cooperation through platforms such as South-South Galaxy, the Global South-South Development Expo, regional sustainable development forums and other knowledge-sharing platforms supported by the different entities of the United Nations system; 12. Notes with appreciation the convening of the Third South Summit, held in Kampala on 21 and 22 January 2024; 13. Recalls the convening of the ministerial meeting on South-South cooperation held in 2023 during the second part of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, in Doha, on leveraging South-South and triangular cooperation for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals; 14. Also recalls the adoption of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States: A Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity 10 at the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, held in Antigua and Barbuda from 27 to 30 May 2024, which commits to supporting small island developing States (SIDS), including by leveraging triangular and South-South cooperation, including SIDS-to-SIDS, to mobilize resources, as a complement to North-South cooperation, towards the realization of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States by 2034; 15. Welcomes the convening of the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, held in Awaza, Turkmenistan, from 5 to 8 August 2025, which served as an opportunity for the international community to scale up its support to landlocked developing countries in their efforts to leverage South-South and triangular cooperation, to achieve sustainable development and to realize the full implementation of the Awaza Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2024–2034, as well as the convening of the ministerial _______________ 10 Resolution 78/317, annex. South-South cooperation A/RES/80/156 7/10 25-20753 meeting on South-South cooperation on the margins of the third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries; 16. Recalls the organization of the eleventh Global South-South Development Expo in Bangkok from 12 to 14 September 2022, encourages Member States to host future Global South-South Development Expos, which can serve as important knowledge-sharing platforms, and requests the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation to actively engage with Member States, including by their expressions of interest to host future Expos, and to include the progress in its report to the General Assembly at its eighty-first session; 17. Recognizes the need for coherent and tailored support to address the specific development needs of middle-income countries, and notes the initiatives of the Like-Minded Group for Middle-Income Countries in promoting the role of South- South and triangular cooperation, including in contribution to the consultations relating to the consideration of the elaboration of a strategic plan of action for middle- income countries; 18. Recalls the special needs of Africa and recognizes that, while economic growth has improved, there is a need to sustain the recovery to face the ongoing adverse impacts of multiple crises on development and the serious challenges that these impacts pose to the fight against poverty and hunger, which could further undermine the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals in Africa, including Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want and the Sustainable Development Goals and the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals, and welcomes the ongoing efforts to fully operationalize the African Continental Free Trade Area and the commencement of actual trading under the Agreement with a view to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; 19. Recognizes the growing debt burden of developing countries, and also recognizes the role of the United Nations, within its mandates, to facilitate South- South exchanges of knowledge on debt to help countries of the global South; 20. Also recognizes the need to enhance the provision and mobilization of adequate resources for enhancing South-South and triangular cooperation, and in this context invites all countries in a position to do so, in particular developed countries, to scale up the contributions, in support of such cooperation, to the United Nations Fund for South-South Cooperation and to the Pérez-Guerrero Trust Fund for South- South Cooperation, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 57/263 of 20 December 2002, and to support other initiatives for all developing countries; 21. Acknowledges the effectiveness of the Pérez-Guerrero Trust Fund in providing catalytic support to South-South cooperation, underscoring the enduring partnership between the Group of 77 and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation; 22. Welcomes innovations that enhance and expand South-South and triangular cooperation, and in this regard recognizes the importance of reinforcing partnership- building, including engaging with partners in national and local governments, civil society, academia and the private sector, and of resource mobilization, including contributions to the United Nations Fund for South-South Cooperation, third-party cost-sharing, parallel financing, in-kind contributions and special fund management arrangements such as those of the India-United Nations Development Partnership Fund, and the India, Brazil and South Africa Facility for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation; 23. Encourages United Nations entities to support developing countries in integrating development cooperation perspectives, including, in particular, South-South A/RES/80/156 South-South cooperation 25-20753 8/10 and triangular cooperation perspectives, into the preparation and presentation of the voluntary national review reports on sustainable development; 24. Notes that, within the context of the United Nations development system, the United Nations system-wide strategy on South-South and triangular cooperation has the potential to enhance the role and impact of South-South and triangular cooperation through galvanizing the expertise of United Nations organizations to support South-South and triangular cooperation, and in this regard calls upon the United Nations development system to continue mainstreaming South-South and triangular cooperation into the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks, at the country level, as appropriate, as a means to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, and also calls upon the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation to work in collaboration with the United Nations system organizations and the regional commissions to mainstream South-South and triangular cooperation, including through regional collaborative frameworks for South-South and triangular cooperation; 25. Notes with appreciation the countries that have increased cooperation with the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, and calls upon the Office to further strengthen its support to South-South cooperation projects; 26. Calls upon the United Nations development system entities to further integrate, as appropriate, South-South and triangular cooperation into their strategic frameworks and planning instruments, and urges them to allocate sufficient financial and non‑financial resources dedicated to supporting and facilitating South-South and triangular cooperation, and encourages the United Nations resident coordinators to continue to advance the integration of South-South and triangular cooperation into the work of United Nations country teams to achieve greater system-wide results and impacts for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals; 27. Calls upon the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation to deepen efforts in mainstreaming South-South and triangular cooperation at the country level, including by providing demand-driven advisory and technical support to United Nations resident coordinators and United Nations country teams; 28. Takes note with appreciation of the development of guidance materials and training modules by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation and other United Nations entities, such as the e-learning module on the use of South-South and triangular cooperation, and encourages integration of these modalities into policy instruments and cooperation frameworks across the United Nations development system; 29. Calls upon the United Nations development system to support Member States in enhancing the establishment and development of platforms for innovation and information-sharing in education and pedagogical methods, including, inter alia, in technical, vocational and tertiary education, skills development and digital literacy, and leverage technological advancements through South-South and triangular cooperation; 30. Calls upon Member States to prioritize and scale up South-South and triangular cooperation initiatives targeting young people in developing countries, to enhance their digital skills, employability and entrepreneurship, including by incentivizing the mobilization of financing from all sources, and with the support of the United Nations development system; South-South cooperation A/RES/80/156 9/10 25-20753 31. Requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to continue to strengthen capacity-building and support to developing countries, provide technical guidance, data-collection tools and reporting systems for applying the initial voluntary conceptual framework for the measurement of South-South cooperation based on country-led mechanisms, and establish a platform to enable country-led development of methodologies and sharing of experience; 32. Recommends that the United Nations development system support the efforts of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in raising awareness and developing the capacity of national statistical offices and cooperation agencies to use the initial voluntary conceptual framework for the measurement of South-South cooperation, and acknowledges the importance of exploring possible options for the measurement of triangular cooperation; 33. Takes note with appreciation of the ongoing efforts by the United Nations regional commissions, under the leadership of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and with the support of the United Nations Office for South- South Cooperation, to support pilot countries in applying the conceptual framework, including through capacity development, peer learning and data-collection tools, and encourages continued collaboration with United Nations country teams in this regard; 34. Requests the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to periodically brief Member States on the utilization of the Manual for the Framework to Measure South-South Cooperation; 35. Reaffirms the urgency of mobilizing greater resources to support South- South cooperation initiatives aimed at enhancing climate resilience, increasing investments in affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, including clean technologies, zero- and low-emission technologies and renewable energy in nature-based solutions, and sustainable agriculture; 36. Recognizes the contribution of South-South and triangular cooperation in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in sustainable development, as well as in achieving the overarching goal of the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, and in this regard emphasizes their full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership in decision- making at all levels; 37. Also recognizes the role of South-South and triangular cooperation in enhancing connectivity and digital transformation within and among developing countries, and in this regard invites the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation and the United Nations system, in line with their respective mandates, to support efforts to develop and implement policies to bridge the digital divides and fast-track digital transformation to improve the delivery of public services in the South; 38. Reaffirms the commitment at the very heart of the 2030 Agenda to leave no one behind and commit to taking more tangible steps to support people in vulnerable situations and the most vulnerable countries and to reach the furthest behind first; 39. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its eighty-first session a comprehensive report on the state of South-South cooperation, including the implementation of the outcome document of the second High-level Conference; A/RES/80/156 South-South cooperation 25-20753 10/10 40. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its eighty-first session, under the item entitled “Operational activities for development”, the sub-item entitled “South-South cooperation for development”. 64th plenary meeting 15 December 2025

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