South-South Statistical Cooperation

This presentation proposes to examine on the current state of South-South cooperation in the production of statistics in matters related to development. Based in part on the author’s fieldwork in Africa, Central America and South East Asia as well as a literature review, this presentation would like to reflect on some current and upcoming challenges in technical cooperation. Taking the stance of a political sociology of the state in so-called developing countries and of a critical study of the international system, this presentation will examine issues related to bilateral and multilateral cooperation between countries in the "South".

Surveys and census are an area generally acknowledged to be still mainly dominated by "Northern expertise". However, current research show that South-South cooperation in statistics is emerging in terms both of knowledge and technology transfer. Indeed, regional powers in the South as well as countries from the BRICs emerge as possible new poles of knowledge and technology which they share at the regional or global level. This is, for instance, the case of Brazil in Portuguese-speaking Africa and that of the Philippines in Myanmar and North Korea. In spite of being a promising avenue for challenging "Northern expertise", this emerging South-South cooperation in statistics is not exempt from possible issues (such as the reproduction of schemes of dependence) which this contribution will reflect on.