Outcome 3 of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) South-South Strategic Framework (2018-2021) relates to the South-South and triangular cooperation partnership and demand-driven programs facilitated to address the sustainable development needs of developing countries. The countries in the Mekong Basin are experiencing climate change and resource extraction and use-induced development challenges. These challenges include frequent threats of overuse of natural resources (overfishing, land clearance for urbanization, and agriculture). The threat to energy, food, and water security requires an integrated approach to policymaking and deploying appropriate technologies to mitigate these negative impacts.

The triangular cooperation project will be funded by the Republic of Korea, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT). It will be implemented under the Direct Implementation arrangement (UNDP-UNOSSC). The UNOSSC will be the Coordinating Office. The Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), the Mekong River Commission (MRC), and the Mekong Institute (MI) will be Responsible Parties. STEPI will enlist the support of the governmental, academic, and private sectors in the modeling of Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus pilots.

The project will review past and ongoing projects in the Mekong Basin focusing on the WEF Nexus and compile knowledge that will be given to the selected countries for pilot area selection and design of the pilot projects in each country. The models will be piloted in four countries, namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam. In addition, the project, which has been selected as the RoK’s regional development cooperation initiative under its New Southern Policy and Green New Deal (GND), will aim at helping the Mekong Basin countries nurture a people-centered community of peace and prosperity with a particular focus on science, technology and innovation approach to the development challenges.