HAMBURG: Aiming for strengthening international partnerships and support the overcoming of pressing challenges under prevailing geopolitical situation, German government launched North-South Commission on Development on Tuesday during the ingoing Hamburg Sustainability Conference in the port city of Hamburg. The Commission has the purpose of intensifying relations with countries in the Global South and to develop them into a global network. Former Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz and Laura Chinchilla, former president of Costa Rica will be the co-chairs of the commission with 20 members. India will be involved in the talks to look for various aspects to be worked about to make the commission more inclusive.
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The commission was launched in presence of Ngozi Okonjo-Israel’s, Director General World Trade Irganisation, German’ federal minister for economic cooperation and development Reem Alabali Radovan and Hamburg Sustainability Conference Chair Achim Steiner.
Earlier, a similar commission named as Brandt Commission was formed in 1977 on the similar issues which in its two reports found out that there are drastic differences in the economic development of Global North and Global South and there is dire need to support Global South.
Olaf Scholz speaking to TOI said that since times have changed and Global South is no more siuch pliable to economic hardships which it was in 1980s as India and China have made tremendous economic development, we will look by involving scientists, researchers and various other stakeholders as how to deal in North-South divide to ensure economic development in both the regions”.
The commission will bring together players from all regions of the world in order to jointly develop solutions to global challenges and overcome polarisation, said Scholz and Chinchilla.
The purpose of this effort is to strengthen international confidence, lend impetus to new global partnerships, strengthen multilateralism and foster new forms of international cooperation. The outcomes of the Commission's work are to inform international reform processes and provide guidance for the future course of Germany's development policy.
The Commission will thus also contribute to the designing of a global post-2030 development agenda. The United Nations 2030 Agenda with its 17 Goals forms the central framework for sustainable development. As the agenda only covers the period up to 2030, the North-South Commission on Development is intended to provide input and inspiration for new global goals.
In its work, the Commission will build on the legacy of the North-South Commission set up in 1977 and led by Willy Brandt, they stated.
The Commission will be an independent body composed of a balanced mix of about twenty high-ranking representatives of the Global South and North from politics, the private sector, academia, international organisations and civil society.
The Commission will work on the principles of equality as representatives from the Global South and North will jointly determine the Commission's agenda and engage in joint decision-making.
The Co-Chairs will facilitate an open, evidence-based debate that reflects the diversity of positions and interests.
In order to ensure this, the Commission's regular meetings will be accompanied by parallel regional consultations in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.
