The Government of Panama and the UNDP Regional Center for Latin America and the Caribbean, as organizers of the Knowledge from the South Fair, invited the countries of the region to present cases of successful cooperation in the four prioritized thematic areas, to increase their visibility and share them at the fair. The call for experiences officially closed on 2 March. The experiences are now in the final phase of selection.

Knowledge from the South recognizes that the region has valuable experiences in knowledge exchange and transfer, which are in different stages of implementation. To illustrate the diversity of the forms that SSC assumes, it seeks to enable feedback among experiences at different levels of progress and facilitate the analysis of challenges to SSC in the region. This call has been structured to account for the following SSC phases:

SSC cases in phase 1: Exchange between offering and requesting countries (brokering): A SSC experience in the exchange phase is characterized by:

• The experience of the offering country (ies) has achieved verifiable results, measured in terms of capacities developed (human, operational and institutional, among others).

• Necessary methodologies, processes and capacities exist to promote the exchange and adaptation of experiences to other contexts. The theme of the experience is incorporated into the national or local priorities of the requesting countries.

• Exchange activities and already been conducted between “offering” countries and “requesting” countries and a memorandum of understanding has been signed. There has been an exchange of notes or the parties have agreed to a preliminary work plan for the transfer of experience.

SSC cases in phase 2: Adaptation of the experience: A SSC experience in the adaptation phase is characterized by:

• It has begun to analyze the capacities and the context of the requesting country and a process of capacity development, if necessary, to ensure the sustainability of the transfer process.

• It has begun adapting the solution or experience to be shared, to the national context of the requesting country, of the necessary methodologies and tools.

• It has initiated joint activities between the offering and requesting countries, agreed to in a work plan with defined goals and funding, that facilitates the adaptation of knowledge to the requesting country.

SSC cases in phase 3: Consolidation of the partnership: A SSC process in the consolidation phase is characterized by:

• The implementation of the work plan agreed to between the countries that are in an advanced stage.

• The requesting country has the necessary human and financial resources to implement the experience.

• It has begun to formalize the horizontal cooperation relationship between the participating countries.

• The requesting country has established a policy, organization, regulations and procedures based on the experiences received from the other country.

• The success of the results of the cooperation process can be demonstrated, measured in terms of human, operational and institutional capacities developed.