30 July 1992

41st plenary meeting

Technical cooperation among developing countries

The Economic and Social Council,

Reaffirming the continued validity and importance of all the recommendations of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action in promoting technical cooperation among developing countries,

Reaffirming further the recommendation that the entire United Nations development system must be permeated by the spirit of technical cooperation among developing countries and that all relevant organizations of the United Nations system should play a prominent role as promoters and catalysts of technical cooperation among developing countries,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 45/191 of 21 December 1990 and 46/143 of 17 December 1991 on developing human resources for development,

Recognizing that increased cooperation is taking place among developing countries and their institutions through the sharing of expertise, experience and facilities,

Recognizing also that technical cooperation among developing countries is an effective tool for implementing development programmes and projects through the use of relevant experience and expertise and could also facilitate trade among developing countries,

Reiterating that developing countries have a primary responsibility for promoting technical cooperation among themselves, and that developed countries and the United Nations system should assist and support such activities and should play a prominent role as promoters and catalysts of technical cooperation among developing countries, in accordance with the Buenos Aires Plan of Action,

Taking note with appreciation of the recent measures taken by organizations of the United Nations system to identify technical cooperation among developing countries as a priority theme, provide increased support to promotional activities and arrange for monitoring technical cooperation among developing countries through the mechanisms established for project appraisal and approval,

Concerned, however, that technical cooperation among developing countries since the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action has not been widespread and is still marginally applied in the implementation of programmes and projects,

1. Calls upon all parties in the development effort to make concerted, planned and vigorous endeavours to benefit from utilization of the capacities of developing countries, by giving their full support and first consideration to the use of the modality of technical cooperation among developing countries;

2. Urges all parties to enhance the scope and application of the modality in work carried out at all stages of the project cycle;

3. Requests all parties to increase support activities aimed at enhancing awareness in government institutions, the private sector and non-governmental organizations of the modality of technical cooperation among developing countries;

4. Calls for increased use, where appropriate, by developed country partners of consultants from developing countries so as, inter alia, to improve the cost-effectiveness of projects and programmes;

5. Urges the United Nations Development Programme and other organizations of the United Nations development system to consider improvements to the working and scope of the Information Referral System (INRES), to improve and expand data and information on existing technical capabilities in developing countries through INRES and to enhance access to such information;

6. Also urges the United Nations Development Programme and other organizations of the United Nations development system to intensify, within existing resources, their efforts to build national capacity for human resources development in developing countries;

7. Invites all countries and organizations of the United Nations development system to review further their policies and practices to facilitate the use of technical cooperation among developing countries in the design, formulation, implementation and evaluation of programmes and projects supported by them;

8. Urges developing countries to encourage greater use of technical cooperation among developing countries in the implementation of national development activities and projects, including procurement practices;

9. Invites developing countries to strengthen their national focal points for technical cooperation among developing countries to enable them to promote more effectively and monitor progress in technical cooperation among developing countries;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 1994 on his assessment of the implementation of the present resolution.