Guyana’s need to capitalise on South-South cooperation was further highlighted by the 2013 United Nations Human Development Report, which stated that the achievements of southern countries have challenged global institutions to re-examine their approach.
“When developed economies in the North stopped growing during 2008’s financial meltdown, but developing economies recorded progress, it sent a signal to the rest of the world,” United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark said.
Such countries included Guyana, which reported a five per cent increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the year of the economic collapse. The report stated that although most developing countries have done well, a large number of countries have done particularly well and the phenomenon has aptly been dubbed “The rise of the South”.
Some of the largest countries have made rapid advances, notably Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey. However, smaller economies, such as Bangladesh, Chile, Ghana, Mauritius, Rwanda and Tunisia, have made substantial progress.
The report cites massive poverty reduction and middle-class expansion from major development gains in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
“The rise of the South is radically reshaping the world of the 21st century, with developing nations driving economic growth, lifting hundreds of millions of people from poverty and propelling billions more into a global middle class,” the report says.
It described “The rise of the South” as unprecedented in its speed and scale, stressing that never in history have the living conditions and prospects of so many people changed so drastically and in such a timeframe. “This phenomenon goes well beyond the so-called BRICS middle income countries represented by Brazil, Russia, India and China…. More than 40 developing countries have made greater human development gains in recent decades than would have been predicted.”
For the first time in 150 years, the combined output of the developing world’s three leading economies – Brazil, China and India – is about equal to the combined GDP of the industrial powers in the North such as Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the report pointed out.
While focusing on the rise of the South and its implication for human development, the report has also highlighted the progress being made and the challenges arising as a result of this very success.
It also examines the emerging opportunities for representative global and regional governance.
Long overdue global rebalancing
The rise of the South, seen within the developing world as an overdue global rebalancing, has been much debated with focus on GDP and trade growth.
Yet there are broader dynamics at play involving many countries and deeper trends, with potentially far reaching implications for people’s lives, social equity and democratic governance at the local and global levels.
According to the report, the rise of the South is both the result of continual investment in human development and an opportunity for greater human progress for the entire world.
These achievements are largely attributed to sustained investment in education, healthcare and social programmes, along with an open engagement with an increasingly interconnected world. The historic progress is creating opportunities for the South and North to collaborate in new ways to advance human development and confront shared challenges such as climate change.
