国内英语新闻:China joins FAO efforts to support South-South Cooperation

ROME, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- China is playing its part in projects of the United Nations to improve global food security under the framework of South-South Cooperation (SSC), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday.

FAO recently co-signed two new tripartite agreements with China, Liberia and Senegal respectively to support implementation of a series of food security initiatives and projects in Liberia and Senegal, the organization said in a press release.

The Rome-based food agency said the agreements were signed in the context of the Strategic Alliance between FAO and China on SSC in support of programs for food and nutrition security in selected countries.

The funding provided through the new agreement comes from a FAO-China Trust Fund of 30 million U.S. dollars, it said.

Under the agreement with Liberia, China will contribute over one million dollars and provide technical assistance through 24 Chinese experts and technicians to support implementation of the country's National Program for Food Security over a two-year period.

In Senegal, China will provide assistance through 26 experts and technicians.

"At a time when continued economic uncertainties are having an impact on the flow of traditional North-South development assistance, South-South Cooperation is creating and building on partnerships that support the direct exchange of financial and technical contributions between developing countries," said Laurent Thomas, FAO Assistant Director-General, Technical Cooperation Department.

"FAO's experience with South-South Cooperation has shown that the knowledge and skills of technical experts and field technicians from the (global) South have made an invaluable contribution to efforts to modernize small-scale agriculture throughout the developing world," he added.

FAO's SSC initiative was launched in 1996 to provide technical support to country-level action on food insecurity.

According to the organization, a total of 47 tripartite agreements have been signed to provide technical assistance among developing countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and over 1,500 experts and technicians have been fielded in the framework of various food security initiatives.

In addition to the Strategic Alliance with China, letters of intent for SSC Strategic Alliance have also been signed so far with Argentina and Indonesia.