Breaking Northern dominance of knowledge and the need for a Southern

Intellectual Platform Information and Knowledge Management @ EADI 2008

25 June 2008Vikas Nath

Head - Media and Communication and Coordinator – South Intellectual Platform South Centre

Geneva, Switzerland

All statements are personal to the presentor and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the South Centre or its Member States.

Updated: 30/8/07

What is South Centre?• Inter-Governmental Organization and Think-Tank for Developing Countries.

• Created in 1995. Has grown out of the work and experience of the South Commission.

• Eminent Personalities (Heads of State or UN): Manmohan Singh (Prime Minister of India, South Commission), Julius Nyerere (Former President of Tanzania, South Centre), Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Former U.N. Secretary General, South Centre), Benjamin Mkapa (Current Chairperson, South Centre and Former President of Tanzania)

• Currently it has 50 Member States from Asia, Africa and Latin America:

Focusing on what issues?

•Trade• Intellectual property, innovation and access to knowledge• Development Cooperation• Climate Change• Financing for development• Reform of the UN and international financial institutions• Others…..

South Centre Programmes relate to:

What are the key activities?• Research: Trade, Intellectual Property, Climate Change, Finance for Development, U.N. Reforms, Migration

• Negotiation Support on: WTO, WIPO, WHO, ITU, Bretton Woods Institutions, EPAs

• Policy Advice: Member Countries of South Centre and G-77

• Training and Capacity Building: Missions to the UN in Geneva, Brussels and New York and Officials from the Capitals,

• Events and Meetings: Missions, NGOs, Delegations

• Networking: Regional Institutions, Media, NGOs, Researchers, Academics, Students

Working for whom?Working for whom?• Regional and thematic groupings of developing countries in various

international forums: G-77, LDCs, G-33, ACP, African Union, SADC,COMESA, MERCOSUR, SIDS and others.

• Key Audience: – Policymakers in the Capitals (Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Foreign

Affairs…..) – Diplomatic representations in Geneva, New York and Brussels– UN and other multilateral development agencies– Academic and research institutions– NGOs and civil society– Private sector

Key Outputs • Over 100 publications :

• Conferences, workshops and informal Meetings on South relevant issues

• Training and Capacity Building events for Southern negotiators

• Knowledge Networks: Thematic, South – South and South – North Networks

Multilingual Approach • Our publications are produced in 3 languages: English, French and Spanish• The website is available in all 3 languages

Innovative and Low-Cost Media and Outreach strategy• South Centre Website, Blog & Digital TV

• Syndicated Columns with Inter Press Service (South Media)

• South Bulletin and South FACE (immediate media coverage)

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T h e G -7 7 a n d C h in a U N C T A D L ist A (A fr ic a a n d A s ia – 1 0 2 S ta te s) U N C T A D L is t C (L a t in A m erica

a n d C a rib b ea n – 3 3 S ta tes ) Afghanis tan Algeria Angola B ahrain B angladesh B enin B hutan B osnia and

H erzegovina

B otsw ana B runei

D arussalam B urkina

F aso B urundi C ambodia C ameroon C ape Verde C entral

African R epublic

C had C hina C omoros C ongo C ôte

d’Ivoire D emocratic

P eople’s R epublic of

K orea D emocratic

R epublic of the C ongo

D jibouti Egypt

Equatorial G uinea

Eritrea Ethiopia F iji G abon G ambia G hana G uinea G uinea-

B issau India Indones ia Iran

(Is lamic R epublic of)

Iraq Is rael Jordan K enya K uw ait Lao

P eople’s D emocratic

R epublic Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan

Arab Jamahiriya

M adagascar M alaw i M alays ia

M aldives M ali M arshall

Is lands M auritania M auritius M icronesia

(F ederated S tates of)

M ongolia M orocco M ozambique M yanmar N amibia N epal N iger N igeria O man P akis tan P alau P apua N ew

G uinea P hilippines Q atar R epublic of

K orea R w anda S amoa S ao Tome

and P rincipe S audi Arabia

S enegal S eychelles S ierra Leone S ingapore S olomon

Is lands S omalia S outh Africa S ri Lanka S udan S w aziland S yrian Arab

R epublic Thailand Timor-Les te Togo Tonga Tunis ia Turkmenis tan U ganda U nited Arab

Emirates U nited

R epublic of Tanzania

Vanuatu Viet N am Y emen Zambia Zimbabw e

Antigua and B arbuda

Argentina B ahamas B arbados B elize B olivia B razil C hile C olombia C os ta R ica C uba D ominica D ominican

R epublic Ecuador El

S alvador G renada G uatemala

G uyana H aiti H onduras Jamaica M exico N icaragua P anama P araguay P eru S aint K itts

and N evis S aint

Lucia S aint

Vincent and the

G renadines S uriname Trinidad

and Tobago

U ruguay Venezuela

(Bolivarian R epublic of)

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D e v e lo p in g C o u n tr y C o a litio n s in th e W T O - 2 0 0 6 -2 0 0 7

Breaking Knowledge Hegemony

• Prescriptive Solutions• Pushing Out Alternatives

Human Resources in the South

• Policymakers• Intellectuals

Who Speaks for the South?

• Voice of South that North wants to hear

• Voice of the South

Creating a South Intellectual Platform

Questions?

Vikas Nath

Nath@southcentre.org

www.southcentre.org

Tel: +41 22 791 80 50Fax: +41 22 798 85 31

17-19 Chemin du Champ d'Anier1209 Petit Saconnex, Geneva