Permanent Mission of India
New York

-- 

CSW Side Event

Women-led Development and South-South Cooperation –

Success Stories from the IBSA Fun

Statement by Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, Permanent Representative

12 March 2026

Excellencies, dear friends,

  I am pleased to welcome you all to the event today on the theme ‘Women-led Development and South-South Cooperation – Success Stories from the IBSA Fund’.

2. Social and economic development leading to peace and prosperity are at the core of multilateral cooperation. Empowerment of women and enabling their effective contribution to productive economy is the force multiplier that propels a country forward. In a world where traditional aid architectures are under strain, where development assistance is increasingly fragmented, and where trust between the Global North and South is increasingly frayed, the IBSA Fund offers a trustworthy model that demonstrates the effectiveness of South-South solidarity.

3. Established in 2004 and operationalized in 2006, the IBSA Fund embodies a foundational conviction shared by its three founding members: that development is a collective endeavour rooted in mutual respect, shared experience, and the sovereign right of nations to chart their own development path. As three major emerging economies with deep historical ties to the developing world, India, Brazil, and South Africa have fashioned a model that challenges the traditional, donor-driven architecture of international development cooperation. The Fund operates on a demand-driven basis — meaning partner countries themselves identify their needs, reflecting the core principle of South-South cooperation. The Fund also emphasizes on knowledge transfer and dissemination of good practices, to build projects that can be replicated elsewhere.

4. While the Fund’s intervention has spanned varied themes – ranging from food security, access to safe drinking water, HIV/AIDS response, quality education, today we would like to focus on its spectacular success in advancing the cause of women empowerment and gender equality. For example, the Promotion of Local Salt Project (ProSel) in Benin exemplifies the Fund's commitment to women's economic empowerment, where over 4,000 women salt producers received $1 million to modernize their artisanal production methods. The Empowering Rural Women in Fiji project, upscaled the Rocket Stove initiative, offering better opportunities for improved livelihoods through the training and production of rocket stoves. Women from rural regions in Guinea Bissau attended training at Barefoot College in Tilonia, in the Indian state of Rajasthan on solar energy, following which, they successfully installed solar energy facilities in their villages. These are but a few examples of remarkable projects that have made tremendous impact on the women and their communities.

5. As on December 2025, we (India, Brazil and South Africa) have collectively contributed USD 55.74 million and supported 52 projects in 40 countries. We have partnered with UN entities including UNICEF, UNDP, WFP, FAO, UNESCO, and IFAD, to provide the technical expertise and quality implementation on the ground.

Excellencies,

6. The IBSA Fund is an embodiment of multilateral cooperation in practice. For India, it is an expression of a deeply held belief: that our own development is inseparable from the development of the wider world, and above all, from that of the Global South – embodying our civilizational dictum of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakom – or the Whole world is one family.

7. Therefore, I am pleased to welcome Minister of State for Women and Child Development of India, Mrs Savitri Thakur, Minister of Women Youth and Persons with Disabilities of South Africa, Ms Sindisiwe Chikunga and Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Women, Brazil, Eutália Barbosa Rodrigues Naves to the meeting. I am extremely happy to welcome the heads of delegations of Liberia, Fiji and Gambia to the event. We look forward to their experience in collaborating with IBSA Fund and its impact on the ground. I am equally pleased and honoured to welcome UNDP Administrator Mr. Alexander De Croo to the event. We are keen to hear your insights on working with the fund and in realizing the goal of South-South cooperation in its truest sense.

8. Excellencies and dear friends, I look forward to a fruitful and constructive deliberation.

Thank you.