- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the aim of promoting locally-led development cooperation and strengthening development effectiveness, discussed ways to expand cooperation with civil society in development cooperation and enhance public-private partnerships in humanitarian assistance. -

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the fourth MOFA-Civil Society Policy Dialogue* (hearinafter “the Dialogue”) on Wednesday, May 8, chaired by Vice Minister Kang Insun, to discuss ways to cooperate with civil society in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance.

* The Dialogues are held twice a year to deal with major issues with civil society in the field of development cooperation and to collect policy recommendations.

2. Representatives from nine civil society organizations involved in development cooperation, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the Korea NGO Council for Overseas Development Cooperation (KCOC) participated in the Dialogue to explore ways to expand cooperation with civil society and enhance public-private partnerships in the field of humanitarian assistance.

*Korea Food for the Hungry International, Goodpeople International, Go&Do International, Good Neighbors International, Save the Children Korea, Serving Friends International, World Vision, ChildFund Korea, Heart to Heart International

3. Vice Minister Kang Insun stressed the need for multifaceted efforts to address global issues and implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the face of complex global crises, such as geopolitical conflicts, and food and energy crises, and the importance of civil society’s role in financing development cooperation and implementing programs that reflect local needs.

4. In addition, Vice Minister Kang mentioned that the Ministry will continue to communicate with civil society and work together with KOICA to create a healthy ecosystem for public-private partnerships, including expanding the budget for public-private partnership projects and supporting capacity building.

5. Civil society expressed its hope that ODA would contribute more to improving the lives of vulnerable groups such as women and the poor, and suggested ways to strengthen government-civil society cooperation in this process.

6. Civil society also called for greater cooperation between the government and civil society to strengthen localization of ODA, and presented the results of last year's humanitarian assistance and the plans for this year, calling for further strengthening public-private partnerships in humanitarian assistance.

7. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to actively respond to needs on the ground by cooperating with civil society to promote effective development cooperation.