Thailand: Principles and Philosophy of South-South Collaboration

Transcription

1 Thailand: Principles and Philosophy of South-South Collaboration Prepared for: The High Level Meeting on International Collaboration for Children s Rights in the Asia and Pacific Region, Beijing P.R. China, November 5 th 6 th 2010 Introduction: Thailand places South-South cooperation high on its international development agenda and has been playing an active role in promoting cooperation among the countries of the South. As a pivotal country for South-South cooperation and a middle income country, Thailand has extended its technical cooperation to other developing countries within the framework of South-South cooperation since the 1970s. Thailand has created models of cooperation built on equality and mutual benefit through various forms, such as knowledge sharing, exchange of experience, training, technology transfer, and financial cooperation. Thailand s commitment to South-South and triangular cooperation is exemplified by numerous demand-driven cooperative programmes. Thailand is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which came into effect in Thailand on 26 April Since then, it has made significant progress in promoting awareness and action on child rights issues with the cooperation from government and non-government agencies at the national and international levels. South South cooperation has been applied to strengthen child rights in various areas, including; sensitisation on child rights, nutrition for maternal and child health, water and sanitation, HIV/AIDS prevention and care as well as prevention of maternal to child transmission, education Child-Friendly Schools Initiative, and on anti-human trafficking. Thailand s implementation of South-South cooperation on child rights focuses on knowledge sharing, exchange of experience and expertise, best practices, development experiences, sharing of lessons learned and future courses of action. Thailand believes that the practices highlighted in this paper demonstrate examples of the means of achieving sound South-South cooperation on child rights in Asia Pacific Region. 1

2 Thailand s International and Regional Collaboration As a middle income country with decades of experience and lesson learned in advancing social and economic development, Thailand makes a conscientious effort to be an active partner in the global partnership for development. Most of Thailand s development cooperation is directed towards Thailand s neighbouring countries, mostly through bilateral programmes, but there is a trend for this cooperation to be increasingly within the context of various regional and sub-regional forums. The volume of Thailand Official Development Assistance (ODA) tripled between 2001 and In , the ODA volume totaled US$ 172 million. More than 90 percent of this amount was granted to least developed countries. Thailand cooperates with partners through several mechanisms; Bilateral cooperation: During the past 30 years, Thailand s Bilateral programme, was mainly directed towards Thailand s immediate neighbours, but the programme has, in recent years, been expanded to other developing countries such as Timor- Leste (agricultural processing, rural development and strengthening democratic governance), Sri Lanka (fisheries, agriculture, health, and de-mining), and to African countries (especially through the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD): focus on promoting human development, poverty eradication, primary health care, and HIV/AIDS). Partnership cooperation: Thailand has tried to emphasize the spirit of partnership, on a cost-sharing basis, between Thailand and its partners - either developing countries or developed countries. This cooperation aims to optimize the effectiveness and create synergy from technical assistance provided to third countries by pooling the expertise and resources of Thailand and partners through cooperation in various forms, such as training courses, study visits, and sub-regional programmes for third countries. An example of current partnership cooperation programmes is that between Thailand and Vietnam on the Joint Strategy for Economic Partnership. 2

3 Triangular cooperation: With years of development experiences and lesson learned from cooperation with various donors, Thailand contributes to the global partnership for development. Thailand has transformed its working modality with development partners from a donor-recipient relationship to a partnership for development relationship. This modality is so-called north-south partnership or triangular cooperation. With this way of working, Thailand can maintain its relationships with development partners and provide more development cooperation to other developing countries. Currently, Thailand pools resources with Japan, Australia, UN Agencies including UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and ESCAP, Luxembourg, France, Germany, and Singapore under this triangular arrangement to assist other developing countries. One example of triangular cooperation is the UNDP-Thailand Partnership programme, which plays a key facilitating role in linking the knowledge and experiences of Thailand with countries in Africa in the areas of HIV/AIDS and SMEs development, through the global network of UNDP Country Offices in the African region. Regional cooperation: Apart from bilateral and triangular cooperation, Thailand also places importance on region-wide cooperation through various regional frameworks which cover a wide range of countries within the region and beyond. Regional and Sub-Regional Agreements initiated by Thailand that include GMS countries are, inter alia, ACMECS: The Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy established in 2003 to promote development and cooperation among Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. ACMECS has more than 200 projects in trade, investment facilitation, agriculture, industry, transport, tourism, and human resource development. BIMSTEC: The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, established in 1997 to promote development and cooperation among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. BIMSTEC activities focus on poverty eradication, trade and investment, energy, transport and communication, tourism, fisheries, and protection of biodiversity. MGC: Mekong-Ganga Cooperation established in 2000 to promote development among Cambodia, India, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Areas of cooperation in this framework include tourism, culture, education, transportation and communication. The most active area of cooperation is transport a road project to link India, Myanmar, and Thailand. 3

4 Thailand s Principles and Philosophy of South-South Collaboration The concept of South-South cooperation is in a process of transformation. It is no longer limited to the government driven model of collaboration among the countries of the South but has evolved to influence collectively the global, political and economic spheres. It has become more broad based and now involves not only the government but the private sector, educational and research institutions, and civil society organizations as well. Today South-South cooperation is not an option but is an imperative for developing countries to meet their common challenges. Thailand refuses to be called a Donor or Emerging donor country as we believe that there is no donor-recipient relationship in South-South cooperation but there are only development partners. Thailand has closely followed the development and progress of South-South cooperation after working with other developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America during the past 30 years. During that time there have been many movements promoting South-South cooperation, and multiple modalities in triangular cooperation. Thai Development Cooperation aims to contribute to the effort of other developing countries in achieving economic and social development. In this regards, in providing technical cooperation to other developing countries, the Government of Thailand has prioritized the major development sectors. They are related and crucial to achievement of sustainable and better livelihoods of people, namely; agriculture, education, and public health. Thailand s Practices relating to South-South Collaboration on Child Rights Thailand places high importance on South-South cooperation. Thailand is keenly aware of the importance of human resources as the software component of national development. Thailand believes that the development of strong human capacities leads to sustainable development. Thailand therefore cooperates with numerous development partners to organise international training workshops for 4

5 countries in the Asia and Pacific region. Thailand and UNICEF arrange formal short courses, comprising theory and practice as well as study visits, relating to child rights. The following examples highlight Thailand s South-South Cooperation on Child Rights in practice. Since Thailand ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1992, it has made significant progress in promoting awareness and action to realize child rights. However, Thailand, like other countries in the region, needs to further widen awareness and understanding of the CRC among policy makers and dutyholders in government, civil society, the private sector, and in communities and families. Thus, the demand for trainers, facilitators and resource persons in the field of CRC training has increased immensely. Training opportunities should therefore be opened for child-focused organizations and persons to build their capacity to conduct effective orientations and training on child rights. The Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC) course on Child Rights Sensitisation, a joint cooperation program between the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA) and UNICEF Thailand, is one such answer to this need. In May 2002, the United Nations General Assembly's Special Session on Children (UNGASS) was organized. Member countries made a commitment to create "A World Fit for Children" with a time-bound set of specific goals for children. Thailand joined hands with others in expressing its commitment to "A World Fit for Children". To respond to this commitment and to its responsibility as the national focal point in supporting and assisting technical and resources for network implementation on capacity promotion and right protection of the child, Thailand s Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, organized the TCDC Course on Child Rights Sensitisation: Training of Trainer. The course, organised annually since 2006, has benefited over 150 participants from 19 countries within the region and beyond. The course benefits child rights trainers, advocates and program planners from child-focused government agencies, NGOs and academic institutions from countries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. The training delivered through this course also stands to benefit the partners of UNICEF, other UN organizations 5

6 and international and national development organizations who are actively or will be actively involved in child rights advocacy, promotion and protection. A second example relates to human trafficking. Since Thailand has become a major receiving, transit, and source country for trafficked persons, the Royal Thai Government has been extremely active in developing a comprehensive range of responses to the problem. For Internal trafficking, a number of prevention programs, such as education promotion, vocational training, and awareness raising campaigns have been established as well as measures to reduce trafficking of children. However, cross-border trafficking appears to have increased substantially and Thailand has thus received a large number of trafficked persons from all countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS). Children are especially trafficked for begging and selling in Bangkok and in other tourist destinations. To respond to the problem, Thailand initiated an approach based on close cooperation between all involved partners: government agencies, non government organizations, international organizations, and neighboring countries. A number of bilateral Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between Thailand and its neighboring counties (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar) were introduced to combat trafficking in children and women, as well as to assist victims of trafficking These MoUs cover; the definition of trafficking, examples of the purposes of trafficking, preventive measures, protection, legal aid, suppression, exchange of information, repatriation, re-integration, training programmes, and capacity building, working closely with NGO s, study and research, mechanisms for coordination and collaboration, monitoring and evaluation. Through engaging in strengthening South-South development cooperation with its neighbours, Thailand has been able to share its own knowledge and lessons to help accelerate the development of other developing countries that are facing similar challenges to its sustainable development. In its cooperation on child rights in the Asia Pacific, Thailand works jointly and constructively with its partners governments, non-governmental organisations and international organisations. 6

7 While recognising that addressing development challenges are beyond the capacity of any one country to tackle alone, Thailand wishes to stress the role not only of donor countries and international organizations but also the important role of middle income countries in the south in working in partnership with developing countries to help them achieve their respective development goals, in a holistic manner to ensure sustainable development for all. Lesson Learned in South-South Collaboration In the course of Thailand s South-South a number of key lessons have been learned. Including; a) cooperation, to be maximally effective should be focused on achievement of a key result to which all partners commit. b) training opportunities within South-South cooperation are productive and useful but Thailand does not often know about impact on development in the other partner country. South-south training courses are therefore activity- based and not always part of a longer term partnership. Future Action on South-South cooperation for Child Rights Through continuing to engage in strengthening development cooperation, Thailand will share its own knowledge of what it takes to accelerate development progress with other developing countries that are facing challenges of achieving sustainable development. Relating to cooperation on children s rights in the Asia Pacific region, Thailand currently works jointly and constructively with partners - governments, nongovernmental organisations and international organizations. In 2011 and beyond, Thailand will continue to play a role in extending cooperation on children s rights issues within a South-South cooperation framework through several of the above described mechanisms and will further seek opportunities to contribute to the greatest extent possible. 7