1. The government of the Republic of Korea held the 26th meeting of the Committee for International Development Cooperation (CIDC) at the Government Complex Seoul on May 30. At the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the Committee discussed and finalized a comprehensive plan for international development cooperation for the year 2017; country partnership strategies (CPSs); and the plan to render support to NGOs for development cooperation in a way that is tailored to their needs.

[Comprehensive plan for international development cooperation for the year 2017]

2. The comprehensive plan for international development cooperation for the year 2017 stipulates the direction of international development assistance and projects that could be conducted by individual, relevant agencies in 2017.

3. According to the plan, the volume of official development assistance (ODA) for the year 2017 will amount to 2.7286 trillion won, up 289.2 billion won from 2016.

4. The ODA projects to be conducted in 2017 will mainly consist of those related to the development cooperation initiatives that the ROK announced in 2015 as well as sustainable development goals.

5. The ROK government also decided to seek out and implement new ODA projects in various fields, including tourism, design, sports, broadcasting and other cultural areas; customs administration and the e-government system; and climate change and other global issues.

6. The government will review and seek ways to improve its ODA evaluation system, making relevant improvements in 2017.

[Country partnership strategies]

7. The country partnership strategies (CPSs) are ODA strategies that stipulate the main areas that the ROK’s development cooperation will focus on for its major cooperation partners as well as its implementation plan for the projects.

8. The ROK will channel 70% of its ODA resources for each partner into three to four main areas of cooperation in an effort to improve aid effectiveness.

9. The CPSs will be in place until 2020. The ROK will set up a monitoring and evaluation system and continuously seek to attain its goals in main areas of cooperation.

[Support for NGOs for development cooperation tailored to their needs]

10. At the meeting, the Foreign Ministry reported on ways to render support to NGOs for development cooperation in a way that is tailored to their needs in order to implement ODA effectively with civil society.

11. The government will enhance the connectivity between its key policies for development cooperation and NGO’s cooperation projects. It will also reorganize institutions and render support throughout the implementation process.


* unofficial translation