On November 15 and 16, 2017, the UNDP Regional Service Center for Africa (RSCA) hosted the first South-South Cooperation Meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa to build momentum for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa.

Four donor countries were invited to share their positive experiences. South Africa with its experience related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Rwanda with the Rwanda Green Fund for a Green Economy; Côte d'Ivoire with the Ivory Coast Compendium of Women's Skills Program; And, Uganda with its Strategic Framework for Empowering Refugee Populations and Host Populations (ReHoPE).

At this meeting, all the donor countries showed particular interest in this unique Ivorian experience of valorization of women's competences presented by the Minister Euphrasia KOUASSI YAO, Special Advisor of the President of the Republic in charge of "Gender", an experience which contributes directly to the Achieved 9 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the early 2030s.

For the countries seeking this innovative solution to fight against gender inequalities, particularly Senegal, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Guinea Bissau, one of the sustainability factors of this program lies in its institutional framework. organized around a national, university and fairly stable management structure that is the UNESCO Chair "Water, Women and Decision-making Power" whose credibility is reinforced by a regular control of the latter by a supervisory committee including the Presidency of the Republic and a dozen sectoral ministries concerned.

These solution seekers have committed themselves to set up their Compendium of Female Skills with the assistance and support of Côte d'Ivoire as part of a partnership whose terms will be finalized in the coming days.

The Ivorian delegation, led by the Special Adviser to the President of the Republic in charge of gender, included a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a head of the UNESCO Chair in Water, Women and Decision-making.