In recent years, development efforts have been set back by long-standing obstacles made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing conflicts, climate change, rising debt, lack of digital access and growing inequalities.

Dima Al-Khatib, Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) says there’s an urgent need to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals – only 17 per cent of which are on track.

In pursuit of that, more than 120 Member States gathered this week at UN headquarters in New York to discuss how South-South and triangular partnerships can boost future sustainable development for all.

UN News’s Emma Trager-Lewis sat down with Ms. Al-Khatib and began by asking her to explain what South-South collaboration means in practice.