Regulating processes

As noted above, the institutional arrangements govern a wide range of aspects of the relationships and operational procedures of Regional Horizontal South-South Coopera- tion. Certain aspects of how some phases of managing pro- grams and projects under this form of cooperation are regu- lated are described below.

a) Processes of requesting, approving and formalizing

cooperation. The identification of a problem and the re- quest for a solution through a Regional HSSC program or project generally depends on sectoral institutions in the participating countries. They generally do this through forums or ministerial meetings (for all three reference experiences—Ibero-American Programs, Mesoamerican (Mexico axis) and Mercosur-Aecid)— or through boards and commissions (very common in Central America). Occasionally, regional bodies (e.g. Ibero-American bod- ies) join the request; less often, the process is headed by a body (IAEA in the ARCAL programs and CINTEFOR in vocational training programs for Latin America) and/ or a country (Brazil’s role, through SENAI, in CINTEFOR). Once the request has been approved, the formalization process tends to depend on higher political echelons, whether sectoral institutions (most Central American programs tend to be signed by the boards and commis- sions into which the sectors are organized) or the Heads of State and Government (particularly Ibero-American

Diagram IV.4. Mechanism of approving and formalizing an Ibero-American Program.

IV.4.A. StEPS PRIOR tO An IBERO-AMERICAn SUMMIt Of hEADS Of StAtE AnD GOVERnMEnt

Countries, Ibero-American bodies

(SEGIB, OEI,OISS, OIJ, COMJIB), civil society

bodies, institutions and organizations

Proposing countries SEGIB and Temporary Secretariat

Interested sectoral authorities

Actors

(1)

Proposal submitted via the Governments and/or SEGIB (2) Drafting of Program Formulation Document (3) Remittal of the Document to the Heads of Cooperation (and circulation among

sectoral authorities)

(4) Remittal of Letter of

Accession (support, accession and annual

contribution)

Steps

IV.4.B. StEPS DURInG An IBERO-AMERICAn SUMMIt Of hEADS Of StAtE AnD GOVERnMEnt

SEGIB and Temporary Secretariat Ibero-American Cooperation Heads Joint Meeting of Cooperation Heads and National Coordinators Ministers of Foreign Affairs Heads of State and Government (1) Elevation of Program Document and Letters of Accession (2) Consideration and decision to support the Program (3) Elevation of the proposal to the Meeting of Foreign Ministers (4) Initial approval of the Program (5) Final approval (set out in the Action Program

paragraph)

Actors

Steps

Summit Programs and the Mesoamerican programs— Mexico axis). Occasionally, the Cooperation Agencies directly involved are also signatories (e.g. the Spanish agency in the Mercosur-Aecid program, and Colombia’s APC in the Mesoamerican Program—Colombia axis in this case).

Diagram IV.4 illustrates a complete cycle of request, approval and execution of a Regional Horizontal South- South Cooperation, such as Ibero-American projects, as established in the Bariloche Convention and the Oper- ating Manual. The Diagram shows separately the steps that precede a Summit of Heads of State and Govern- ment (the natural venue for approval and formalization) and during a Summit. For each of the steps, it shows the actors that are directly involved (Ibero-American bodies, representatives of governments and highest po- litical authorities). In short, prior to a Summit, the coun- tries identify and present their proposal, evaluate it and express their commitment; during the Summit, SEGIB and the Temporary Secretariat elevate the Program Document and Letters of Accession to the successive instances (Ibero-American Cooperation Heads, Foreign Ministers and Heads of State and Government). Once all these stages have been completed, the proposal is approved, signed and enshrined in a paragraph of the Summit Action Plan.

b) Implementation is undoubtedly the phase of a Re-

gional Horizontal South-South Cooperation program and/or project in which the sectoral representatives of the countries participate most actively and directly, or at least the one where they tend to participate alone. Cases where the regional body works alongside the countries, either supervising (e.g. WHO/PAHO in some Central American programs) or providing technical as- sistance (COMJIB, OEI and OISS, in programs in their ar- eas of action), are less frequent.

c) As for the process of oversight and evaluation of Re-

gional South-South cooperation, there is a wide range of formulas but, in contrast with the execution phase, regional and even international bodies tend to take precedence over individual countries in this case. For example, SEGIB is in charge of monitoring and evalu- ating Ibero-American (Summit) Programs; bodies such as COMJIB and the OEI oversee other programs related to the Ibero-American Conference that are not Summit Programs; the WHO and PAHO oversee the Amazon Malaria Initiative; and the ARCAL program is overseen by the IAEA. Another common formula is to establish consultation mechanisms internally in the programs and projects, as in the case of the Mercosur-Aecid Pro- gram (a framework in which the sectors, through the Ministerial Meetings, the Management Units and AE- CID regularly track the projects) and the Mesoamerican Program (where a body within the structure, the Ex- ecutive Committee, is responsible for monitoring and evaluation).

Box IV.2 summarizes the way in which all phases of the process may be regulated. It refers to a specific experience: two projects implemented under the Mercosur-AECID Pro- gram. It provides an overview of the patterns followed by any project from the point of request and approval up to execution and final evaluation. The process is described for two specific projects: Institutional Strengthening and Gender Perspective in Mercosur; and Establishment of an Environmental Information System in Mercosur. It details the actors and their functions in each phase of a Regional HSSC project.