Southern providers themselves recognise the benefits of such measuring and monitoring – it enables South–South cooperation to maximise its unique contribution to Agenda 2030. Moreover, there is a clear demand for better information from partner countries. Better data would support monitoring and evaluation, improve effectiveness, explore synergies with other resources and ensure accountability to a diverse set of stakeholders.
At the moment, technical and political challenges mean an international consensus on how and whether to measure and monitor South–South cooperation remains far from sight. This paper reflects on both these challenges and the incentives available to strengthen the agenda. It does so by reviewing national and regional initiatives that might lead to a deepening of technical and political discussions to further a coherent and shared approach to measuring and monitoring South–South cooperation.
