In this module, participants will acquire knowledge of the ILO’s involvement with cities and local authorities in SSTC projects in the fields of Local Economic Development (LED) , City-to-City Cooperation (C2C), and Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). City-to-City cooperation is increasingly seen as a form of development cooperation between cities of the South (and North, through triangular cooperation), and a useful tool in implementing LED and decent work strategies and achieving development objectives at the local level. This form of cooperation between peers is growing in scope and practice, bringing cities to work together on issues of common interest and to exchange knowledge on a peer group basis, as well as to transfer successful practices to new contexts.

 

City-to-City cooperation has been increasingly linked to, and benefited from, the practice of South-South and Triangular Cooperation, as an innovative means to develop local solutions to global issues. SSTC constitutes an exchange among equals, the identification of innovative practices, and promotes collaborative initiatives at the national, regional, and interregional levels.

 

The innovation component of the Social and Solidarity Economy brings it closer to the concept of South-South and Triangular Cooperation. The idea behind South-South cooperation is that it allows countries to interact at a horizontal level, promoting solutions that are the outcome of an exchange of skills, resources, and technical expertise while promoting solidarity. The South-South cooperation model is complementary to the North-South dimension, in a dynamic that aims at promoting equality among peoples and democracy among states.

 

For example, as a result of the ILO South-South and Triangular Cooperation knowledge-sharing project on an Integrated Approach Towards Formalization in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan , the report sets out road maps for the four countries to make progress toward an integrated strategic approach to facilitate the transition to formality. The study includes an assessment of the informal economy in each country and proposes a whole government-coordinated approach to formalize the informal economy, highlighting South-South and Triangular Cooperation as instrumental tools to accomplish this objective.

1) In your opinion, can South-South cooperation strengthen the cooperation among cities? Is City-to-City cooperation a form of South-South cooperation?

 

2) In your view, Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) resonates with South-South cooperation? How can the SSE benefit from South-South cooperation and promote the rights of workers?