The Nature of Partnership within South South Cooperation in Discourse and Practice. Findings from Malawi and Mozambique

Prezi presentationThe nature of ‘partnership’ within South-South Cooperation in discourse and practice: findings from Malawi and Mozambique. Since the mid 1990s, ‘partnership’ has become a key concept in development cooperation . Although it has been critiqued for being a ‘buzz word’ or a ‘something nothing word’ , it is associated with some main values and principles; such as equality, mutuality, trust, respect, accountability . However, the central question remains how these principles are applied in reality. Researchers have addressed this issue within different types of partnerships, but especially partnerships between Northern and Southern NGOs have been studied and have been critiqued for not living up to their principles . Also within South-South Cooperation the notion of partnership is a main concept. Despite considerable attention given to the discourse, little is known about the implementation of partnerships on the ground . This paper analyses the nature of SSC partnership in discourse, and practice, i.e. in concrete development programs and projects. Specific attention is given to the actors involved, the role of civil society, and the supposed characteristics of SSC, i.e. the importance of equal relationships, mutual benefit and use of expertise inspired by own experience to address development challenges. Finally the approach to ‘partnership’ of SSC is confronted with that of other actors, and more specifically with that between Northern and Southern NGOs. The findings are based on field work of 14 development initiatives of Brazil, India, China and South Africa in the health sector in Mozambique and the agricultural sector in Malawi carried out in 2013 and 2014.status: publishe