Latin America: Triangular Cooperation

Increasingly, donors are regognizing the importance of triangular cooperation in order to achieve the sustainable development goals. The UN defines this new modality of cooperation as “Southern-driven partnerships between two or more developing countries, supported by developed countries or multilateral organizations to implement development cooperation programs and projects." ADELANTE is the European’s Union flagship programme on triangular and South-South cooperation.

The project aims to foster horizontal relations within Latin America and Caribbean countries, and of these same countries with Europe. It also looks to encourage the exchange of knowledge and in taking advantage of the capacity of all of its partners to provide solutions aimed at the sustainable development of the region.

ADELANTE is a programme that is committed to Triangular Cooperation as an innovative partnership modality. It co-finances eight projects involving 54 organizations from 18 Latin American (LAC) countries, in addition to several European institutions. This broad sphere of actors involved in the project produces evidence of the added value of Triangular Cooperation in all environments and points to their efficient contribution towards sustainable development. The eight projects currently funded by the ADELANTE programme directly contribute to nine UN Sustainable Development Goals and 27 of their targets.

ADELANTE has made substantial contributions to the Global Partnership Initiative (GPI) on Effective Triangular Cooperation by sharing case studies, lessons learned, and good practices. Project partners have participated in international forums, such as the Global South-South Development Expo in 2018, European Development Days, and the Buenos Aires Plan of Action BAPA+40 summit in 2019, where the project was publicly applauded by its peers for furthering Triangular Cooperation.