A/RES/58/220 3. Reaffirms the need to strengthen further, within its available resources, the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation of the United Nations Development Programme as a separate entity and a focal point for South-South cooperation within the United Nations system, recognizes that its activities should be perceived as an integral part of the overall development policy of the United Nations system and the United Nations Development Programme, and in this context calls upon United Nations funds and programmes and other entities of the United Nations development system to intensify efforts to mainstream technical and economic cooperation among developing countries by using relevant national, regional and international mechanisms in consultation with Member States; Notes with interest that South-South cooperation can have a positive 4. impact on global, regional and national policies and actions in the economic, social and development fields in the developing countries, and urges developing countries and their partners to intensify South-South and triangular cooperation in these areas, as they contribute to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration; 6 5. Recognizes that regional integration initiatives between developing countries constitute an important and valuable form of South-South cooperation and that regional integration is a step towards beneficial integration into the world economy; Also recognizes the urgent need to help to strengthen the capacities of the 6. developing countries, especially the least developed countries, to participate in and benefit from globalization and liberalization processes, and to this end welcomes the initiatives being undertaken at the subregional, regional, interregional and global levels towards establishing public-private partnership mechanisms aiming to enhance and expand South-South cooperation in trade and investment, and in this context notes the initiatives of the World Trade Forum; Reiterates the urgent need to help to strengthen institutions and centres 7. of excellence in the South, especially at the regional and interregional levels, with a view to making more effective use of such entities towards improved South-South knowledge-sharing, networking, capacity-building, information and best practices exchanges, policy analysis and coordinated action among developing countries on major issues of common concern, and in this context encourages such institutions and centres of excellence, as well as regional and subregional economic groupings, to establish closer links and bridges among themselves, including through the Web of Information for Development of the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation; Notes with interest the holding of the High-level Conference on South8. South Cooperation in Marrakesh, Morocco, from 16 to 19 December 2003, and calls upon developing countries, and encourages their development partners and relevant international organizations, to participate actively in the Conference in order to ensure its success and increase the momentum and intensity of South-South cooperation; Urges all relevant United Nations organizations and multilateral 9. institutions to intensify their efforts to effectively mainstream the use of SouthSouth cooperation in the design, formulation and implementation of their regular programmes and to consider increasing allocations of human, technical and financial _______________ 6 2 See resolution 55/2.