Baku, Azerbaijan, 6 July 2023. The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) co-organized with the South Center a side event titled ”Reinvigorating the Non-Aligned Movement in the Post-COVID-19 Pandemic Era” on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Ministerial Meeting in Azerbaijan, on 6 July 2023. The Bank was represented during this side event by Mr. Moncef Soudani, Manager, Reverse Linkage, Cooperation and Capacity Development Department.

The objective of the side event was to discuss how the NAM can support its member states' developmental needs and aspirations towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals during this decade of action. It was also an opportunity to discuss how NAM can promote South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTrC) to tackle current development challenges.

During the side event, Br. Moncef delivered the welcoming remarks as well as a presentation on “The framework of National Ecosystems for SSTrC”, which is a concrete contribution from IsDB to implement some of the recommendations of the Outcome Document of the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA+40). During the presentation, he highlighted the different pillars of the ecosystems and shared the Bank’s efforts to strengthen the national ecosystem for SSTrC in the member countries. He also expressed the Bank’s readiness to share its experience with NAM countries to develop their respective national ecosystems for SSTrC. 

Starting from 2024, another IsDB member country, namely Uganda, will take over leadership of the NAM until 2026. This represents another opportunity to continue advocating for the framework of national ecosystems as well as further positioning the Bank and its member countries in the area of SSTrC.

On the sidelines of the NAM event, the Bank’s representative organized bilateral discussions with representatives from IsDB member countries namely Ambassador, Tri Tharyat, Deputy Minister for Multilateral Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia and Mr.  Elmaddin Mehdiyev, Director, Azerbaijan International Development Agency. The discussions focused on strengthening existing joint collaboration under SSTrC.

In addition, a bilateral meeting took place with the Ambassador, Gerardo Peñalver Portal, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations.  Cuba is an active country in the Global South and is currently the chair of G77 plus China, which is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations. The meeting focused on exploring the possibility of transferring Cuba’s knowledge and expertise to IsDB member countries through Reverse Linkage.