South-South cooperation, as an important element of international cooperation for development, offers viable opportunities for developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their individual and collective pursuit of sustained economic growth and sustainable development.
Developing countries have the primary responsibility for promoting and implementing South-South cooperation, not as a substitute for, but rather as a complement to North-South cooperation. The international community should support the efforts of the developing countries to expand South-South cooperation.
To mark the importance of South-South Cooperation, the General Assembly decided to observe this Day on 12 September every year, commemorating the adoption in 1978 of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries.
The Assembly also urged all relevant United Nations organizations and multilateral institutions to intensify their efforts to effectively mainstream the use of South-South cooperation in the design, formulation and implementation of their regular programmes and to consider increasing allocations of human, technical and financial resources for supporting South-South cooperation initiatives.