The South-South Matchmaker, 2019-2020 Best Practices was launched to promote the best practices in the South and encourage innovating and adopting innovative solutions for a better world.
The South-South Network for Public Service Innovation Secretariat, a2i; The United Nations Development Programme in Bangladesh, and the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, jointly launched the platform at a virtual programme on Wednesday.
Dr AK Abdul Momen, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh joined the event as the Chief Guest while Zunaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister, ICT Division; Naguib G Sinarimbo, Minister for the Interior and Local Government, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Philippines; Adel Abdel Latif, UNOSSC Director ai and other officials also attended.
Sudipto Mukherjee, UNDP Resident Representative of Bangladesh, kick-started the ceremony by sharing his delight on the launch of the 2nd South-South Matchmaker - Best Practices, according to a press release issued on Thursday.
The South-South Network for Public Service Innovation (SSN4PSI) was launched in 2017 at the Global South-South Development Expo in Turkey jointly by the UNOSSC and Bangladesh.
The network is a collaborative platform where governments, private sector organisations, experts and academics exchange knowledge, experiences and expertise to harness innovations through matchmaking.
The network has 39 partners within and 17 different countries where the practices are being replicated. 24 different best practices from seven different countries and 14 different organisations were selected to be published in this year ‘The South-South Matchmaker, 2019-2020 Best Practices’ edition.
Speaking at the event, Dr AK Abdul Momen highlighted the different practices that Bangladesh has developed and how these innovative solutions are helping Bangladesh, and other countries, solve complex problems.
The minister believes the scope of the South-South Network has expanded from just technical fields and that the network has been added to the National Policy for Development Cooperation.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak said Bangladesh is making strides in the field of technology.
Palak noted that the country made huge transformations towards the goal of achieving Digital Bangladesh.
Naguib G Sinarimbo thanked the UNOSSC and Bangladesh for creating the South-South Matchmaking Platform.
He mentioned that he has been impressed by the digital innovations that Bangladesh has brought in and that this has inspired the Philippines to adopt digital innovation practices of Bangladesh.
During the event, Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor of a2i, conducted a high-level segment where they discussed the testimonials, solidarity and support for the South-South Network for Public Service Innovation from key partners where speakers such as Robert Opp. Chief Digital Officer, UNDP New York;
Dr Nabeel Goheer, Assistant Secretary-General at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and Benjamin Kump, Head of Development Innovation Team at OECD shared their opinions and promised to work collaboratively and make more meaningful partnerships to create a better world.