Korea is going to usher into a new chapter in the history of development cooperation at the Fourth High-level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, the world premier forum on development cooperation, in Busan from 29 November to 1 December. Following the successful launch of the Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth at the G20 Seoul Summit last year, Korea is now preparing for the Busan Forum with the same sense of urgency and responsibility to chart new territories of development cooperation in a changing development landscape.

Currently, development cooperation has reached a critical juncture. Despite many positive results, development cooperation is increasingly becoming an object of mounting criticism and pessimism concerning its effectiveness and impact, and has even been branded as “dead” by some. For instance, last year alone, 24 members of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development contributed 129 billion US dollars in the form of Official Development Assistance. Yet, with the target year for the UN Millennium Development Goals only four years away, extreme poverty and pandemic diseases coupled with climate change, triple crises of food, fuel and finance, natural disasters and all forms of fragility continue to plague millions of people around the globe. In times of recurrent global economic and financial insecurities, it is becoming increasingly difficult to mobilize essential resources and public support for development cooperation without further enhancing its impact and effectiveness.

On the other hand, ‘the rise of the rest’ and technological innovations brought new and diverse actors as well as approaches into the landscape of development cooperation. Emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India, and non-state actors have undeniably been playing an increasingly important role in development cooperation, enriching the field of development cooperation with new modalities of South-South cooperation, triangular cooperation, and public-private partnership.

In recognition of the challenges and opportunities included in these changes, Korea desires to contribute to the global efforts to attain more effective, broad-based, and inclusive development cooperation. This new development paradigm calls for a new global development partnership that embraces the growing diversity in actors and approaches. In this context, Korea as the host of the event intends to achieve the following three priority goals at the Busan Forum.

First, while reaffirming its commitment to core aid effectiveness principles of ownership, accountability, and partnership, Korea is keen to expand the perspectives and range of aid into a broader issue of development effectiveness for it realizes aid is indispensable but one of many instruments for development. As a recipient-turned-donor country, Korea supports the endogenous efforts to build the skills and institutional capacities for locally-owned and locally-led development. Equally important are non-aid policies such as effective institution building, and human resources development including women’s empowerment as they have significant implications on development. Korea feels that it is time to move the agenda from effective aid to development effectiveness at the Busan Forum.

Secondly, Korea attaches great importance to a “new global partnership for effective development cooperation” which embraces new actors and modalities of cooperation and enables us to collectively respond to global challenges. Emerging economies, civil society organizations and the private sector play an increasingly prominent role in development cooperation, demonstrating efficacy of their own way of cooperation such as South-South cooperation. The Busan Forum aims to forge a more inclusive and broad-based partnership in which all development actors can work together with a shared goal and mutual respect, learning from one another. Korea, therefore, welcomes the active participation of China, India, Brazil, and a great number of middle income countries together with non-state actors at the Busan Forum as well as in the post-Busan process.

Lastly, Korea strongly supports the establishment of a post-Busan mechanism named the “Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation” with a mandate to oversee and support the implementations of the commitments made during the Busan Forum at a political level and will be steered by a high-level committee. Korea also expects the Partnership to serve as an inclusive space for dialogue, mutual learning and accountability.

At the crossroads of development cooperation, there is growing attention as well as expectations for the Busan Forum. Korea is committed to forging a new vision and global alliances for more balanced, results-oriented, comprehensive, and inclusive development paradigm in Busan together with the international community represented by Heads of State, more than 100 foreign and development ministers such as U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton, 40 heads of major international organizations including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and approximately 2,500 participants covering all sides of the spectrum world-wide.

By Enna Park

Enna Park is director general for development cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. ― Ed.

Enna Park

Career

● Director general for development cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2011-

● Minister counselor, Mission of the Republic of Korea to the U.N., Jan. 2007- Feb. 2010

● Vice chair of Commission on Status of Women, 2007-2008

● Consultative Committee member of UNIFEM (U.N. Fund for Women), 2007-2010

● Political counselor, Korean Embassy, Beijing, China, 2003-2006

● Director, research and planning division, Institute for Foreign Affairs and National Security, 2001-2002

● Consul, Korean Consulate General, New York, 1997-1999

● Joined MOFAT in 1985


Academic background

● Visiting fellow, Weatherhead East Asia Institute, Columbia University, 2010

● MA, School of International Affairs, Columbia University, New York (class of 1989)

● BA, majored in history, Yonsei University, Seoul