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SPECIAL REPORT

BY GUIDO ASHOFF

TRIANGULAR COOPERATION is a relatively recent mode ofdevelopment cooperation. It normally involves a traditionaldonor from the ranks of the OECD’s Development AssistanceCommittee (DAC), an emerging donor in the South, and abeneficiary country in the South.1 It has received increasinginternational attention because of particular advantages it issaid to provide. At the same time, it poses several risks thatcould further complicate international development coopera-tion. To make full use of its potential, it is important to con-ceive it as a learning process, to identify the interests of the

three parties involved, and to apply the internationally agreedprinciples of aid effectiveness. When these principles areapplied, triangular cooperation can enrich international de-velopment cooperation.2

Actors and factors

TRADITIONAL DONORS engaged in triangular cooperationmake up roughly two thirds of the DAC membership withJapan at the top of the list, followed by Germany, Spain,Canada, and the rest. In addition some multilateral develop-ment banks such as the Asian Development Bank, and UN

Triangular CooperationOpportunities, risks, and conditions for effectiveness

Indonesian agricultural expert Joko Ptioyo (R), who has been dispatched by Jakarta on behalf of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, talks with alocal farmer in Antsirabe, Madagascar in January 2010.

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agencies such as the United Nations Development Program(UNDP), also take part. Emerging donors participating in tri-angular cooperation can be found in Africa (Egypt, Kenya,Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia), Asia (China, India,Malaysia,the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam)and Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,Mexico). Beneficiary countries are typically the less advancedcountries many of which have long benefited from South-South cooperation.

Over the last two years, triangularcooperation has occupied an increas-ingly prominent place on global devel-opment agendas and in policy docu-ments such as the Bogotá Statementand the 2010 UN Secretary GeneralReport on development cooperation.To assess practices on the ground, theOECDengaged in a pilotmapping exer-cise (Yamashiro Fordelone 2009) andEuropean donors have started a reflec-tion process on triangular cooperationin the context of aid effectiveness(Schulz 2010).

Triangular cooperation consistsmainly of technical cooperation aimedat capacity building and takes placemostly in the same region where boththe emerging donors and beneficiarycountries are located. It is often basedon previous cooperation between tra-ditional and emerging donors, that isconsidered successful and worthtransferring to third countries. Inother cases, emerging donors havegained experience in specific areas(for example, Brazil in the fight againstHIV/AIDS), the transfer of which tothird countries is supported by tradi-tional donors. The scale of triangularcooperation is difficult to ascertainsince reliable statistics do not exist.Overall it appears to represent only asmall proportion of aid flows to bene-ficiary countries. Case studies suggestthat triangular cooperation is charac-terized by a large number of mostlysmall projects resulting in a ratherfragmented landscape.

Opportunities and risks

TRIANGULAR COOPERATION is per-ceived to have a number of advantagesas outlined in the box. It should beborne inmind, however, that the objec-tives and interests of the three actorsinvolvedmay not necessarily coincide.

The current debate on triangular cooperation has high-lighted four risks:� Lowering quality standards if emerging donors still do not

have the experience and capacity to provide high-qualitydevelopment assistance,

� Neglecting the alignment with beneficiary countries’needs, priorities, and strategies if triangular cooperation isprimarily designed to reflect the experiences and prefer-ences of the traditional and emerging donors,

TRADITIONAL DONORS

OPPORTUNITIES ATTRIBUTED TO TRIANGULAR COOPERATION BASED ONTHE OBJECTIVES OF THE PARTICIPANTS

EMERGING DONORS

Scaling up South-Southcooperation by involvingtraditional donors andthereby mobilizing additionalresources

Improving the quality ofSouth-South cooperation byinvolving traditional donorsand transferring successfulexperience

Using the experience and thesupport of traditional donorsto build the capacity of theirown developmentcooperation agencies

Increasing their visibility asemerging donors

Promoting regionalcooperation and integration

BENEFICIARY COUNTRIES

Source: Ashoff (forthcoming); Altenburg and Weikert (2007); UNDP (2009);Yamashiro Fordelone (2009).

Increasing the value formoney of developmentassistance by contractingless expensive experts fromemerging donors instead ofexperts from traditionaldonors

Benefiting from thesimilarities between emergingdonors’ experiences and theirown needs as they look formore appropriate solutions todevelopment problems

Benefiting from the linguisticand cultural similarities withthe emerging donors

Keeping more easily in touchwith experts from emergingdonors after completing theprojects (experts fromtraditional donors could beout of reach once projectsare completed)

Promoting regionalcooperation and integration

Increasing aid effectiveness:transferring successful aidexperiences to third countries(scaling up)

Increasing aid efficiency:reducing costs by contractingexperts from emerging donors

Creating synergies: using thecomparative advantages ofemerging donors

Substituting aid programs inthird countries for programsby emerging donors

Phasing out developmentcooperation with emergingcountries in an orderlymanner

Building the capacity ofdevelopment cooperationagencies in emerging donorcountries to increase thecapacity of the internationaldevelopment cooperationsystem

Sensitizing new donors on theprinciples and procedures ofeffective aid as agreed in theParis Declaration on AidEffectiveness and the AccraAction Plan

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi meets with his Malawiancounterpart Joyce Banda in 2009, as part of an African tour.

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� Rising transactions costs since three actors (instead of twoas in traditional cooperation) have to adopt a commonapproach, agree on common standards and procedures,and create the legal, institutional, and budgetary condi-tions required for successful implementation, and

� Increasing fragmentation of the international aid architec-ture due to the growing number of actors, further complicat

ing harmonization of approaches, standards, and practices.

Promoting triangular cooperationand ensuring its effectiveness

THE POTENTIAL AND RISKS of triangular cooperation werevividly discussed during the Bogotá High Level Event onSouth-South cooperation and are reflected in the case storiesproduced by the Task Team on South-South cooperation. Insummary, the following points are crucial:� Identify the common interests of the three actors involved:

Triangular cooperation is not an end in itself. It can reachits potential and generate added value only if it is based onshared interests and commitment.

� Apply the principles of the Paris Declaration: Although theimplementation of the Declaration is itself a multifacetedlearning process (implying that agreed modalities may besubject to revision), its five principles remain valid andshould be fully applied to triangular cooperation.Ownership by the beneficiary countries is key. Traditionaland emerging donors should harmonize their approachesand align themwith the beneficiaries’ needs, priorities, andsystems. Managing for results is a joint challenge for thethree actors and forms the basis for mutual accountability.

� Make use of complementarities: Triangular cooperationshould aim at projects that reflect comparative advantagesand are based on successful experience gained in previouscooperation.

� Ensure sufficient management capacity: Triangular coop-eration places additional demands on the managementcapacity of all the actors. This applies particularly toemerging donors. Their role as development partnersrequires them to develop the capacity to manage the wholeproject cycle together with the beneficiary countries.Traditional donors can make an important contribution bysupporting the capacity building of aid agencies in emerg-ing donor countries.

� Evaluate and exchange experiences, identify lessonslearned, and distill good practices: Case studies show thatthe aforementioned risks do matter in practice. Yet theyare not caste in stone. Keep inmind that there are learningcurves. To climb these curves, evaluation of triangularcooperation and mutual learning are crucial.

Does triangular cooperation constitute amajor change in internationaldevelopment cooperation?

THE SCALE OF triangular development cooperation is stillrather limited compared to traditional North-South coopera-

tion or South-South cooperation. Yet it is a reflection of andimpetus for change in international development coopera-tion. It results from a growing number of countries losingtheir status as recipients of traditional development assis-tance, and becoming donors. At the same time it offers tradi-tional donors the opportunity to scale up their aid programsby joining forces with the new donors and to phase out devel-opment cooperation with them by supporting them as theytake on the donor role. Triangular cooperation, if properlyimplemented, can accelerate this process and thereby enrichthe system of international development cooperation.

Guido Ashoff is a Senior Researcher and Head of Department at the

Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (German Development

Institute) in Bonn.

Endnotes

1 In this case it is North-South-South cooperation. Triangular cooperationmay also take the forms of South-South-South cooperation or North-North-South cooperation.

2 Consistent databases are not available. For overviews based on preliminaryor partial surveys see ECOSOC (2008), Yamashiro Fordelone (2009), UNDP(2009), SEGIB (2009), and Task Team on South-South Cooperation (2010).

References

Altenburg, Tilman and Jochen Weikert. “Trilateral Development Cooperationwith ‘New Donors’.” German Development Institute Briefing Paper, 5/2007.

Ashoff, Guido. “Cooperación triangular de Alemania en América Latina conénfasis en México–Contexto, enfoque, perfil y conclusiones.” RevistaEspañola de Desarrollo y Cooperación (número especial) (forthcoming).

Bogota Statement–Towards Effective and Inclusive DevelopmentPartnerships, Bogotá, 2010.

ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social Council). Trends in South-South and Triangular Development Cooperation. Background study for theDevelopment Cooperation Forum. New York, 2008.

Schulz, Nils-Sjard. Triangular cooperation in the context of aid effective-ness–Experiences and views from European donors, Concept Note andWorkshop Report for the Spanish EU presidency, Madrid, 2010.

SEGIB (Secretaría General Iberoamericana). Report on South-SouthCooperation in Ibero-America 2009. Madrid, 2009.

Task Team on South-South Cooperation. Boosting South-South Cooperation inthe Context of Aid Effectiveness, Telling the Story of Partners Involved inmore than 110 Cases of South-South and Triangular Cooperation. Paris:OECD, 2010.

UNDP (United Nations Development Program). Enhancing South-South andTriangular Cooperation. Study of the Current Situation and Existing GoodPractices in Policy, Institutions, and Operations of South-South andTriangular Cooperation. New York, 2009.

Yamashiro Fordelone, Talita. “Triangular Cooperation and Aid Effectiveness.”Paper presented at the OECD/ DAC Policy Dialogue on DevelopmentCooperation, Mexico City, 28–29 September 2009.