S. Korea, UNDP to bolster cooperation in tackling global challenges

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with comments by UNDP head, S. Korean minister, other
details)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the U.N. Development Program (UNDP)
signed two pacts Monday on promoting cooperation, which the aid agency said
reflect a "new working relationship" between the two sides as Seoul has become a
donor country.
Under an agreement signed by South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and UNDP
Administrator Helen Clark, the UNDP will set up the "Seoul Policy Center for
Global Development Partnership" early next year. Clark, formerly prime minister
of New Zealand, arrived here on Sunday for a two-day stay.
"The Republic of Korea (South Korea) shows that a country can emerge from
conflict and poverty through hard work, good strategies, and smart policies,"
Clark said. "I am thrilled to be here at this transitional moment for UNDP's
partnership with Korea."
The envisioned Policy Center on Global Development Partnerships is designed to
help craft policies for assisting underdeveloped countries in the Asia-Pacific
region, on the basis of South Korea's experience in having transformed from an
aid recipient into a benefactor, according to South Korean officials.
"We believe the UNDP Policy Center will serve as an important regional hub for
sharing development experiences," the foreign minister said.
The center replaces the UNDP's Seoul office to be closed next month, reflecting
South Korea's raised international status. The country is poised to join the OECD
Development Assistance Committee (DAC), a club of two dozen major aid donors,
next week.
"Through promotion of global learning, networking and dialogue, the Policy Center
will help to foster comparative experiences and approaches of new development
partners in reducing poverty and achieving sustainable human development," the
UNDP said in a press release.
South Korea, now one of the world's leading economies, rose from the ashes of the
1950-53 Korean War and achieved rapid economic and social development with the
help of the global development network.
The UNDP Seoul office, which opened in 1963, stopped formal assistance to South
Korea in 2000 and has since downsized its operation, playing more of a symbolic
role as a liaison between Seoul and the U.N.
Yu and Clark also signed an agreement to launch a Millennium Development Goal
(MDG) Trust Fund in a bid to facilitate their joint efforts to fulfill the MDGs,
which aim to drastically reduce global poverty and child mortality, along with
the spread of AIDS, malaria and other diseases prevalent in poor countries by
2015.
The MDGs also seek to promote gender equality and maternal health as well as
ensure environmental sustainability and universal primary education
"Under the agreement, South Korea and the UNDP will push for joint projects in
the global fight against poverty, climate change, and other difficulties," the
official said.
The UNDP chief flies out to Japan, the next stop on her regional tour that will
also take her to China.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)