Solidarity in Action: Accelerating Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals through South-South and Triangular Cooperation

October 13, 2025

Cross-Regional Dialogue on Regional Integration and Cooperation Trends

When: 23 October 2025; 9:00 – 10:30 AM EDT
Where: Conference Room 1521, UN Secretariat Building; Online via Zoom link here
Format: Hybrid; Contributing to the Celebration of United Nations Day
Hosts/Conveners: UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC); UN Regional Commissions New York Office (RCNYO)
In collaboration with: UN Regional Economic Commissions: ECA, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA and UNECE; Emerging Development Partners (EDP) Network
Register here

Join us for a pivotal cross-regional dialogue exploring how regional integration and South-South cooperation can accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. This event brings together regional commissions and South-South actors to examine integration trends and identify practical pathways forward at a critical juncture for global development.

Why This Matters

Global uncertainties and economic fragmentation are putting development progress at risk. With only 35% of SDG targets on track for achievement by 2030 and 18% regressing, stronger international cooperation is increasingly vital. Regional and subregional cooperation are holding steady as essential building blocks of multilateralism, bringing countries together to address common cross-border challenges.

Key Focus Areas

Emerging Integration Trends: Cross-regional exchanges on how regions are responding to evolving pressures and uncertainties
South-South Economic Cooperation: Examining how trade among developing countries now accounts for one-third of global trade and contributes up to 42% of global GDP
Effective Practices: Highlighting approaches enabled through South-South and triangular cooperation that can be replicated across regions
Partnership Pathways: Exploring opportunities to broaden collaborations and enhance support for SDG acceleration

Regional Perspectives

The dialogue will feature insights from across the globe, including perspectives on:

Africa: The African Continental Free Trade Area and advancing regional integration
Arab Region: Strengthening economic integration in trade, digital connectivity, and food security
Asia-Pacific: Building on significant strides in investment, movement of people, and intraregional trade
Latin America and the Caribbean: Addressing development traps through enhanced regional cooperation
Europe, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean: Navigating diverse integration landscapes

Objectives and Expected Outcomes

This dialogue takes place at a pivotal moment, offering a dedicated platform for regional commissions and South-South actors to come together, better understand anticipate emerging integration trends, and chart innovative pathways to accelerate sustainable development — advancing the SDGs and shaping a more resilient, inclusive future overall.

This cross-regional dialogue is designed therefore to:

Facilitate cross-regional exchanges on emerging trends and regional responses to evolving pressures and uncertainties
Highlight effective practices and approaches enabled by or through SS & TrC that would be potentially replicable in other regions
Explore pathways to broaden partnerships (particularly with and among entities with regional focus) to enhance support for SDG acceleration over the next five years
Identify potential areas of joint action planned by UNOSSC and RCNYO to support SDG acceleration across regions
Provide opportunities for Member States to gain insights into regional opportunities and challenges, learn about replicable practices, and explore partnerships that can directly support their national SDG implementation

Programme:

Time	Segment	Name
09:00 – 09:05	Opening Segment	Ms. Thilmeeza Hussain, Director, Regional Commissions NY Office (RCNYO) Ms. Dima Al Khatib, Director, UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)
09:05 – 09:25	Regional Integration and Cooperation Trends	Overview: Ms. Zeynep Orhun Girard, Chief, Capacity Development and Partnerships, UNESCAP; EDP Network Secretariat (Moderator) Ms. Maria Teresa Pisani, Chief (ad interim) Trade Facilitation Section, UNECE Mr. Luis Fidel Yáñez, Secretary of the Commission/CEPAL, Office of the Secretary of the Commission/UNECLAC Ms. Yuko Naab, Chief of Partnership and Resource Mobilization, UNECA Mr. Karim Khalil, Secretary of the Commission, UNESCWA
09:25 – 10:25	Reflections from Across Regions and Dialogue Speakers to address key trends from their perspectives and raise top three priorities for action where SS&TrC will be crucial	Overview: Mr. Alasdair Charnock, Principal Partnership Officer, AIIB (Moderator) Minister Plenipotentiary Nada El Egizy, Head of the Sustainable Development and International Cooperation Department, League of Arab States Mr. Enrique O’Farrill Julien, Executive Director of the Chilean Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AGCID) Mr. Martin Clavijo, Executive Director, Uruguayan Agency for International Cooperation, Office of the President (President of Ibero-American Cooperation/SEGIB for SSC); with Mr. Martin Vidal, National Director of Policy for CELAC (Uruguay as 2026 Chair of CELAC) Mr. Hendrik Jesus Garcia II, Minister, Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the UN (Philippines as Chair of the Like-Minded Group of Middle-Income Countries LMG-MICs and 2026 Chair of ASEAN) Ms. Amina Magouri, President and Founder, Salma Dialogue (Strategic Alliances: Latin America Meeting Africa, SSTrC Programme) Mr. Ibrahima Diagne, Managing Director of GAINDE 2000 and President of the African Performance Institute (API), Senegal Mr. Ted Chen, CEO and Co-Founder, Evercomm / NTU Entrepreneurship Academy, Singapore / Asia’s 30 Under 30 (Inputs to discussions/Video message: Mr. Mohammed Elrazzaz, Head of Sector, Economic Development and Employment, Union for the Mediterranean)
10:25 – 10:30	Next Steps and Closing Remarks	Ms. Thilmeeza Hussain, Director, Regional Commissions NY Office (RCNYO) Ms. Dima Al Khatib, Director, UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)

For further details, please contact Minerva Novero-Belec (minerva.novero@unossc.org) and/or Ashebir Desalegn (desalegna@un.org)