19 November 2013: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) Seoul Policy Centre and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea organized the ‘Busan Global Partnership Workshop’ to discuss how effective development cooperation might feature in the post-2015 agenda.

Representatives of over 30 governments, international organizations and civil society met in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 18-19 November 2013, to address the theme of ‘Implementation strategies for effective development cooperation at the country level.’ They discussed: measures for implementation of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation, including country case studies; key challenges in advancing development cooperation and policy coherence; and how effective development cooperation might feature in the post-2015 development agenda.

Participants from Cambodia, Honduras, Madagascar, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Viet Nam shared their experiences, calling for donors to fulfill aid commitments, provide support for strengthening country systems, and streamline donor missions to recipient countries.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UNDP also made presentations. Anthony Smith, Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom (UK), emphasized donors’ accountability in their home countries to show results and value for money.

Jonathan Glennie, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), presented a discussion paper titled ‘The ‘Middle Income’ Conundrum: The need for and effectiveness of international assistance in ‘middle income’ countries,’ which makes a case for continuing aid to the world’s poorest people based on need rather than on aggregate indicators. It calls on aid donors to support structural transformation in developing economies so as to promote sustainable development.

The meeting served to provide input to the First High-Level Meeting on Effective Development Cooperation, which is scheduled to take place at the ministerial level in Mexico, from 15-16 April 2014. Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Shin Dong-ik offered to host an annual meeting in Korea on the topic of country-level implementation.

The Global Partnership on Effective Development Cooperation was created at the fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, Korea, in 2011. [UNDP Press Release] [Workshop Agenda] [Publication: The ‘Middle Income’ Conundrum]