6 South-South cooperation and regional partnerships

The Government wishes to see an intensification of efforts to strengthen risk reduction capacity and expertise in our partner countries in the South. It is vital to facilitate competence-building in these countries so that they are better able to meet the challenges outlined in this white paper. Risk reduction should therefore be incorporated into efforts to improve governance. Efforts to strengthen civil society are also very important. The Government would like Norad to have a particular responsibility for ensuring a closer dialogue with NGOs on the links between humanitarian relief and long-term development cooperation, in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Government wishes to develop partnerships with actors that actively disseminate knowledge and information with a view to strengthening risk reduction at both bilateral and regional level. Such partnerships should include exchange of experience of peace and reconciliation measures, dialogues on reducing vulnerability to different types of humanitarian crisis, efforts to increase understanding of risk and conflict, and discussions on emergency response, gender issues and crisis management, with a view to strengthening local capacity.

A number of preparedness and adaptation measures such as building up emergency food stocks, developing new agricultural methods, initiatives to provide employment during the reconstruction phase, and measures to address migration issues, etc, could benefit from regional cooperation. The same applies to research into and studies of regional and local impacts of climate change.

There is also potential for far closer South-South cooperation in the early reconstruction phase. Countries that have emerged from conflict and have started reconstruction have valuable experience to share with countries that are about to start such efforts. There are often sensitive issues at stake, and the competence of these countries may be particularly relevant in this context, for example with a view to preventing a return to violence.

The Government wishes to encourage more South-South cooperation on disaster risk reduction and to help to facilitate such efforts through the UN, the World Bank, the ISDR, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and subregional organisations. We see this as a way to generate greater political commitment to risk reduction measures on the part of national and local authorities.

Environmental and climate change, new migration flows and the risk of increasing conflicts over limited resources will generally have a regional dimension. Most of the world’s conflicts occur in regions where at least one of the neighbouring countries is also affected by conflict. There is a need for closer bilateral cooperation between countries in the South on such questions and for closer regional cooperation with a view to preventing different types of humanitarian crisis.

There is clearly a need for regional and subregional organisations, such as the African Union (AU), the Arab League and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to draw up a common policy and strategy for protecting civilians. Fragile states in particular are facing major challenges in terms of environmental and climate change.

In recent years, a number of new regional initiatives and forums have been established to improve the coordination of risk reduction and emergency response, particularly with respect to natural disasters. These present us with new opportunities for coordination and partnerships.

The need for more regional cooperation is increased by the lack of a clear UN mandate for preparedness, risk reduction, early warning, etc. So far, the UN’s most important role has been responding to humanitarian crises, but in recent years it has played an increasing role in preparedness. Organisations such as the ISDR and ProVention have addressed the issue of coordination to some extent, but much more needs to be done.

In regions where there are many small countries, cooperation will be of major significance, but it is important that regional organisations and forums involve the whole region, not just a few countries. If not, there is a risk of creating more bureaucracy rather than building up functional organisations.

Norway provides support for small-island developing states (SIDS), for example through contributions to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the special funds operated by the GEF, as well as providing support for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Shelf Programme and research cooperation between Cicero (Center for International Climate and Environmental Research) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Climate Change Centre on adaptation to climate change. SIDS are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather and rising sea levels. New waves of refugees can be expected from these states, as adaptation to climate change will entail huge costs.

The development of good regional risk and vulnerability analyses should be encouraged. Such assessments can also play an important role in strengthening cooperation and dialogue between parties to a conflict. Regional cooperation has been established in Latin America, for example the coordination centre for the prevention of natural disasters in Central America, CEPREDENAC, which was set up in connection with the regional cooperation between Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

We need more such examples. There are a number of countries that have had little success with disaster risk reduction, and one of the reasons for this is that they have experienced several crises in a short space of time. Haiti, with its limited resources and expertise, is one such country. It is precisely because national preparedness is poor that local and national resources and emergency response systems are overlooked when disaster hits. Thus little is done to reduce the population’s vulnerability in the long term.

Closer regional cooperation on humanitarian and development policy challenges is also a relevant issue for Nordic foreign ministers meetings with other groups of countries, for example the Nordic-African foreign ministers meetings. This model could well be extended to other groups of countries, for example in South Asia, where coordinated measures between what are some of the world’s most densely populated countries will be crucial in order to address environmental and climate change in the Greater Himalaya region. The Nordic countries could work together to provide important impetus here.

Security is vital for keeping conflicts in check and achieving development. Developing countries need support for their security sector and the implementation of stabilisation measures involving military forces. The Government is seeking to increase Norwegian civilian and military participation in UN operations in line with its policy platform.

In addition, we should consider providing support for peacekeeping operations under the auspices of regional organisations in the South, monitoring mechanisms in connection with ceasefire and peace agreements, and the training of military personnel in human rights and international humanitarian law. The African Union force in Darfur is one example in this respect. The force has not been able to protect the civilian population, including the internally displaced. But with additional troops, better access to resources, and a mandate that is specifically targeted to protecting civilians, including the internally displaced and humanitarian personnel, a force of this kind could provide effective military support for humanitarian and early reconstruction efforts.

Support for military activities of this kind cannot be reported as official development assistance (ODA). In the long term, the Government will consider whether security measures of this type can qualify for Norwegian funding for the prevention of conflict and humanitarian crises.

The Government will:

• strengthen regional partners that can deal with emergencies and, through their physical presence, help to prevent humanitarian crises;

• seek to promote closer regional cooperation on risk reduction with particular countries in Africa, Latin America and South Asia (the Greater Himalayan region);

• initially give priority to partnerships with China, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cuba on South-South cooperation and cooperation with Norwegian centres of expertise on risk reduction and emergency response;

• strengthen cooperation with regional organisations in the South with a view to more systematic exchange of experience and capacity-building;

• help to direct attention to and increase understanding of the impacts of climate change on small-island developing states and vulnerable coastal communities in the Arctic, and support measures that can give them a stronger voice in climate negotiations;

• contribute to the establishment of an international mechanism to ensure the transfer of expertise and technology relating to risk reduction, reconstruction and emergency response between countries in the South, in cooperation with the World Bank and the UN;

• support OCHA’s efforts to give its regional offices more responsibility for strengthening risk reduction and preparedness capacity and help to bolster OCHA’s dialogue with national authorities and regional organisations; and

• promote the use of the Nordic foreign ministers meetings as a channel for putting humanitarian disaster risk reduction on the international agenda.