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1 KOREA development Assistance Committee (DAC) PEER REVIEW 2012 ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND development 2 FOREWORD DAC PEER REVIEW OF KOREA OECD 2012 This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the organisation or the governments of its member countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.

2 FOREWORD 3 DAC PEER REVIEW OF KOREA OECD 2012 The Peer Review Process The DAC conducts periodic reviews of the individual development co-operation efforts of DAC members. The policies and programmes of each member are critically examined approximately once every four or five years. Five members are examined annually. The OECD s development Co-operation Directorate provides analytical support and is responsible for developing and maintaining the conceptual framework within which the Peer Reviews are undertaken. The Peer Review is prepared by a team, consisting of representatives of the Secretariat working with officials from two DAC members who are designated as examiners.

3 The country under review provides a memorandum setting out the main developments in its policies and programmes. Then the Secretariat and the examiners visit the capital to interview officials, parliamentarians, as well as civil society and NGO representatives of the donor country to obtain a first-hand insight into current issues surrounding the development co-operation efforts of the member concerned. Field visits assess how members are implementing the major DAC policies, principles and concerns, and review operations in recipient countries, particularly with regard to poverty reduction, sustainability, gender equality and other aspects of participatory development , and local aid co-ordination.

4 The Secretariat then prepares a draft report on the member s development co-operation which is the basis for the DAC review meeting at the OECD. At this meeting senior officials from the member under review respond to questions formulated by the Secretariat in association with the examiners. This review contains the Main Findings and Recommendations of the development Assistance Committee and the report of the Secretariat. It was prepared with examiners from Australia and Germany for the Peer Review of KOREA on 11 December 2012. In order to achieve its aims the OECD has set up a number of specialised committees.

5 One of these is the development Assistance Committee, whose members have agreed to secure an expansion of aggregate volume of resources made available to developing countries and to improve their effectiveness. To this end, members periodically review together both the amount and the nature of their contributions to aid programmes, bilateral and multilateral, and consult each other on all other relevant aspects of their development assistance policies. The members of the development Assistance Committee are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, KOREA , Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

6 4 FOREWORD DAC PEER REVIEW OF KOREA OECD 2012 KOREA s aid at a glance TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 DAC PEER REVIEW OF KOREA OECD 2012 Table of contents List of acronyms .. 9 The DAC S main findings and recommendations .. 11 Overview .. 11 Overall framework for development co-operation .. 12 Promoting development beyond aid .. 14 Aid volume and allocation .. 15 Organisation and management .. 17 Improving the impact of development co-operation .. 19 Towards better humanitarian donorship .. 21 Chapter 1 Strategic orientations .. 23 KOREA is working hard and building a strong reputation in development co-operation.

7 24 KOREA is reforming its aid and establishing strong foundations .. 24 Challenges ahead .. 26 Ensure that all KOREA s aid delivery channels support a common vision .. 30 KOREA needs to strengthen its approach for mainstreaming cross-cutting issues .. 32 Communication and transparency should be strengthened .. 33 Future considerations .. 34 Chapter 2 development Beyond Aid .. 37 Putting in place the building blocks for policy coherence for development .. 38 KOREA is increasing its use of whole-of-government .. 42 Future considerations .. 43 Chapter 3 Aid volumes, channels and allocations.

8 45 KOREA needs to sustain increases in its ODA volume .. 46 KOREA has a relatively concentrated aid system, but coordination remains a challenge .. 47 KOREA s planning and budgeting process for its ODA should be strengthened .. 47 Allocations: KOREA has target ratios for bilateral and multilateral ODA, grants and 49 Bilateral aid .. 49 Multilateral aid .. 56 Non-ODA flows .. 57 Future considerations .. 58 Chapter 4 Organisation and management .. 61 KOREA s development co-operation system: two pillars and two main challenges .. 62 KOREA has improved the integration and co-ordination of its aid.

9 62 Building on a system that is partly decentralised .. 65 Ensuring KOREA has sufficient, appropriate development co-operation staff for scaling up .. 66 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS DAC PEER REVIEW OF KOREA OECD 2012 KOREA is building a stronger evaluation system .. 69 Future considerations .. 71 Chapter 5 Aid effectiveness and results .. 75 KOREA is committed to aid effectiveness and is trying to improve its performance .. 76 KOREA has made progress in most aid effectiveness areas .. 77 Further progress is needed to meet KOREA s aid effectiveness commitments .. 79 Accountability and management for.

10 82 Future considerations .. 83 Chapter 6 Humanitarian assistance .. 85 Significant progress in humanitarian work since joining the DAC .. 85 Increasing strategic focus will help manage a broad humanitarian mandate .. 86 Prioritising for a growing programme .. 88 Ensuring the humanitarian system remains fit for purpose .. 91 Improving monitoring and performance reporting .. 91 Future considerations: .. 92 Bibliography .. 95 Annex A OECD/DAC Standard Suite of Tables .. 103 Annex B Field visit to Cambodia .. 111 Tables Table Grant element of Korean ODA loans by category of country.