Korea showed its readiness to play a more vital role in the international community during the U.N. Sustainable Development Summit held Sept. 25-27 in New York City.

At the plenary session of the U.N. Sustainable Development Summit on Sept. 26, President Park Geun-hye pledged $200 million toward health care services and education of girls over a period of five years starting next year. Under the “Better Life for Girls Initiative,” Korea will provide health- and education-related official development assistance to Nepal, Laos, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Tanzania, Jordan, Morocco, Bolivia and Ecuador.

The “Better Life for Girls Initiative” aims to close the gender gap in education and help girls in developing countries reach their full potential. Much work remains to be done in this area despite the improvements made as part of the Millennium Development Goals: While equality has been achieved in primary education between girls and boys, only a few countries have reached equality at all levels of education, according to the U.N.

Describing Korea as “a vivid testament to all that education can do,” Park also pledged to bolster support for establishing vocational, polytechnic and high-tech institutes at a high level Global Education First Initiative event on Sept. 26. Scholarship programs that bring international talents to Korea will be expanded and, in conjunction with UNESCO, Korea will support advanced information and communications technology-based learning in developing countries.

Another area in which Korea has pledged to share its experience and know-how is in rural development. Crediting the Saemaul Undong, or the New Community Movement, for lifting the rural areas out of poverty, Park pledged to spread the Saemaul Undong as a new rural development paradigm.

At a special high-level event on the Saemaul Undong cohosted by the U.N. Development Plan and the OECD, Park noted that the movement has yielded positive results in developing countries that have adopted it as a rural development model. Korea is ready to spread this movement to more countries, developing the model, in conjunction with the OECD and the UNDP, into one that is more broadly applicable and tailored to the different needs of different countries.

The U.N. Sustainable Development Summit adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals to achieve by 2030. As an aid-recipient country that has become a donor nation, Korea has valuable experience and lessons to share with the world in striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

As Park noted, the country’s experience with prioritizing education and the success with the New Community Movement that contributed to the country’s rise from the ashes of war to an economic powerhouse and a vibrant democracy in just five decades is one that is inspiring for many developing countries.

Korea does have a lot to contribute toward the betterment of human lives across the globe. However, in spreading its experience and know-how, Korea should realize that these are vastly different times we live in now and that different countries and cultures have different sets of needs and requirements. What worked for Korea may not necessarily work for other countries: While providing the basic paradigms, the details will have to be redeveloped. Indeed, Korea should guard against efforts to outright export its experience and models; rather, it should work as a partner toward humanity’s common goal of improving lives.