In order to promote, coordinate and support South-South and triangular cooperation, the Special Unit has designed a 3-in-1 architecture through which it supports the development community. The Special Unit serves as the Secretariat for and receives policy directives from the General Assembly High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation and operationalizes these directives through its architecture. The first pillar of this architecture is the Global South-South Development Academy (GSSD Academy) – an online platform through which hundreds of Southern development solutions and experts have been identified, codified and managed. The best solutions are then showcased at the Global South-South Development Expo (GSSD Expo) – an annual United Nations system-wide event convened by the Special Unit to showcase the strongest, most successful Southern development solutions to the complex challenges facing the South today. The Special Unit facilitates the transfer of proven solutions through the South-South Global Assets and Technology Exchange (SS-GATE) – a physical and Internet-based platform through which Southern solution seekers and providers can transfer and obtain needed technology, development solutions and financing in a secure environment.

The Special Unit, as the global and UN system-wide coordinator for South-South cooperation, provides the following services

Policy

We will credit your successes and give you visibility through the following instruments:

• The UNDP Administrator’s annual report to the Executive Board;
• The UNDP Administrator’s biennial report to the General Assembly High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation;
• The UN Secretary-General’s biennial report on the state of South-South cooperation;
• The South Report (which informs the policy making of Member States, including the South-Summit); and
  
• South-South in Action (quarterly publication).

The Global South-South Development Academy (GSSD Academy)

Through the GSSD Academy, we enable you to:

• Manage your national experts through the creation of your own national experts’ roster;
• Identify, document and disseminate development solutions that can be shared with other countries;
• Jointly publish scalable solutions in the form of successful practices (19 volumes published thus far); and
  
• Conduct joint research on issues relating to inclusive growth and partnerships, including triangular cooperation.

The Global South-South Development Expo (GSSD Expo)

Through the GSSD Expo, we enable you to:

• Market, showcase and access scalable solutions to critical development challenges, including:
  • climate change,
  • education,
  • food insecurity,
  • global health,
  • HIV/AIDS, and
    
  • social protection and decent work;

• Showcase solutions in an annual, multi-agency setting; and
  

• Organize your own regional or thematic showcasing event under your leadership.

The South-South Global Assets and Technology Exchange (SS-GATE)

Through SS-GATE, we enable you to:

• List development solutions and technology for transfer;
• Obtain needed solutions and technology;
• Identify and access potential financiers (both conventional and non-conventional) to facilitate solution or technology transfers.