On 4 August 2025, at the OSC headquarters in Addis Ababa, the Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC) and the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at strengthening strategic collaboration in key areas of cooperation such as public diplomacy, knowledge exchange, and capacity building.
Signed by the Under-Secretary-General for Administration, Papa Malick Gaye, on behalf of the Secretary-General of the OSC, H.E. Manssour Bin Mussallam, and the Deputy Executive Director of the IFA, H.E. Dr. Abdi Zenebe, this agreement marks a new milestone in building a more inclusive and equitable multilateralism from and for the Greater South.
Among the main commitments is the integration of the IFA into the Greater South Information System (GreSIS), which will allow for the sharing of research resources and digital libraries in the OSC’s official languages, facilitating open access to strategic knowledge produced in Ethiopia and countries of the South.
The agreement also foresees the joint organisation of training programmes on public diplomacy, evidence-based policymaking, international negotiation, climate justice, and artificial intelligence governance. In addition, the IFA will participate in the academic mobility programme FREYRE – Framework to Reinforce Exchanges between Youth and Regions through Education.
To ensure effective implementation, a Joint Technical Committee will be established to oversee and execute the areas of cooperation, with the possibility of developing complementary agreements for specific initiatives.
Both parties reaffirmed their commitment to transformative cooperation that places research, training, and diplomacy at the core of a more just, sustainable, and sovereign development.
