- When: 04 December 2025, 08:00- 10:00AM EST
- Where:
- UNOSSC Office, Doha Conf. Room, 11th Floor, 304 E 45 Street
- Online via Zoom link Here
- Format: Hybrid;
- Hosts/Conveners: UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa
Join us for this inaugural dialogue that will explore how South-South and triangular cooperation are being systematically harnessed to build resilient startup ecosystems. Bringing together speakers in this space from across different regions, this cross-regional dialogue event underscores the value of peer learning and cross-border collaboration in scaling successful models and accelerating inclusive entrepreneurship.
Why This Matters
Though developing regions have seen a considerable rise in startup investments through donor-backed innovation challenges, knowledge transfer partnerships, and blended finance modalities, the 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Report[1] further highlights a decline in ecosystem value, signaling the need for innovative policy frameworks and broader partnerships to sustain momentum. By leveraging these transformative development cooperation modalities, regions can tap and channel tested solutions on financing, capacity development and ecosystem infrastructure in a manner that poses no burden, helping reduce duplication and adapt proven models to local needs.
Key Focus Areas
- Effective Practices: Capturing and highlighting good practices and different models in support of startup ecosystem development: Good practices and startup models from across regions.
- South-South and triangular cooperation: Examining how these cooperation modalities are being leveraged in the development of startup ecosystems across the different regions and opportunities for enhancement
- Partnership Pathways: Exploring opportunities to broaden collaborations and enhance support for startup ecosystem development.
Regional Perspectives
The dialogue will feature insights from across the globe, including perspectives from actors from the different regions– Africa, Arab States, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and, Central Asia
Objectives and Expected Outcomes
This two-hour hybrid cross-regional dialogue is designed as a platform for cross-regional knowledge and experience exchange among stakeholders to identify opportunities for leveraging South-South and triangular engagement for SDG-anchored start-up ecosystem development. It will result in a policy brief on South-South and triangular cooperation as Mechanisms for Startup Ecosystem Development in the Global South to further enrich both the discourse. It also aims to help broaden the network of stakeholders across regions, provide a platform for exchange within and between regions, and channel cross-regional perspectives and resources for concrete South-South and triangular cooperation initiatives for inclusive startup ecosystem development. Specific objectives include:
- Facilitate cross-regional exchange of proven good practices and startup models from across regions.
- Identify, share and connect collaborative opportunities, partnerships and resources in support of innovators and policy makers across the regions of the Global South.
- Initiate a platform for systematic and continuing exchanges through a South-South Cooperation Startup Ecosystem Peer-Learning Platform, channeling continuous knowledge exchange and partnerships brokering across the Global South.