OECD Development Co‑operation Peer Reviews: Korea 2018

Annex A. Progress on implementing the 2012 DAC peer review recommendations

Strategic orientations

 

2012 recommendations	Progress in implementation
Korea should build on its solid legal and policy foundations by completing the strategic framework to guide its growing development co-operation. Specifically:
The framework should set out clear aims, priorities, objectives and intended outcomes for Korea's thematic focus areas.	Implemented
Korea should complete and publish the country partnership strategies planned for each of its 26 priority partner countries: these should be aligned to partner countries' development strategies; cover all Korea government's support; unify strategies for grants and loans; include forward expenditure commitments; incorporate plans and targets for aid effectiveness; and define in measurable terms the objectives of Korea's contribution to each partner country.	Implemented
Korea should complete and publish its planned comprehensive multilateral ODA strategy.	Implemented
The framework should include stronger guidance and plans for mainstreaming gender equality, women's empowerment, environment and climate change across all of Korea's programmes.	Implemented

Development beyond aid

 

2012 recommendations	Progress in implementation
Korea needs to give policy coherence for development sufficient weight in decision making by:
creating a government-wide agenda to achieve development-friendly policies, overseen by CIDC. This agenda should include: (1) the most important incoherencies to be tackled; (2) the steps to be taken to tackle them and by whom; (3) the targets to be achieved; (4) a timeline for action; and (5) a stronger process for involving the relevant government departments;	Partially implemented
ensuring that the government of Korea has sufficient technical and political capacity to co‑ordinate and enhance policy coherence for development;	Not implemented
strengthening existing analysis of and reporting on how Korea’s foreign and domestic policies affect developing countries. This should build on PMO and MOFA research and analysis to date, and should be informed by feedback and analysis from the field; better information flows among government departments in Seoul; and analysis by universities, CSOs and think tanks.	Not implemented

Aid volumes, channels and allocations

 

2012 recommendations	Progress in implementation
Korea should sustain its recent increases in aid volumes to achieve its target of giving 0.25% of its gross national income (GNI) as ODA by 2015.1 At the same time, Korea should:	Not implemented
plan and manage the aid increase to ensure a steady and predictable rate of growth while striking manageable and appropriate balances between bilateral and multilateral channels and grants and loans;	Implemented
assess carefully the ratio of grants to loans for fragile states and heavily-indebted poor countries (HIPCs) and when extending loans consider carefully the economic context and financial governance of these countries to ensure debt sustainability; and	Implemented
ensure that the choice of aid instrument reflects development objectives and partner country ownership, preferences, management capacity and need.	Partially implemented

1. Korea’s targets for aid volumes were revised downwards in 2016

Organisation and management

 

2012 recommendations	Progress in implementation
To implement its development co-operation strategy successfully, Korea should:
ensure that (i) the CIDC uses its powers fully to become the ultimate decision-making body in planning and budgeting processes; and (ii) the Inter-Agency Committees, together with the ODA Councils at partner country level, have the necessary authority to ensure that all aid-funded activities are processed through them;	Partially implemented
strengthen further the human resources of PMO, MOFA and MOSF, together with the main agencies (KOICA and EDCF), by attracting and retaining quality people with the right kind of development experience, and build the capacity of Korean and locally engaged employees in priority partner countries, particularly to equip these with the necessary skills to support new aid modalities, such as programme based approaches.	Partially implemented
Strengthen the independence and procedures of the Sub-Committee on Evaluation; improve ongoing monitoring during project implementation; improve ex-post evaluation; strengthen capacities and delegate authority to support critical evaluation in field units; and systematically integrate lessons from evaluations into future programmes.	Partially implemented

Delivery and partnerships

 

Recommendations 2012	Progress in implementation
In continuing to make its aid more effective, Korea should:
integrate the aid effectiveness principles and the internationally-agreed targets into all development co-operation strategies – particularly country partnership strategies – and aid management procedures; and	Partially implemented
improve its performance in areas where Korea is lagging the most: untying its aid, use of programme-based approaches, medium-term predictability and use of country systems.	Partially implemented
To provide developing country partners and Korean taxpayers with even better value for money Korea should:
translate the commitment to untie 75% of its total bilateral ODA by 2015 into a year‑on‑year roadmap that drives progress towards its goal;	Implemented1
maintain focus on meeting the DAC Recommendation on Untying and the Accra and Busan commitments to untie aid to the maximum extent; and	Partially implemented
report the tying status of all Korean ODA, including technical co-operation.	Partially implemented2

1. Korea’s targets for untying aid were revised downwards in 2016

2. Korea does not report the tying status of its free-standing technical cooperation

Results management and accountability

 

2012 recommendations	Progress in implementation
PMO, MOFA and MOSF should continue to increase transparency and accountability by:
providing comprehensive information on Korea's development co-operation - in particular, they should disclose information on development co-operation policy, strategy, procedures, budget (countries and sectors), programmes and projects in a way that is easy for key stakeholders - parliamentarians, civil society organisations (CSOs), non-government organisations (NGOs), private sector, research institutes, developing country partners and the general public - to access and understand.	Partially implemented

Humanitarian assistance

 

Recommendations 2012	Progress in implementation
To provide a clear strategic vision for the humanitarian programme; to ensure that humanitarian principles are consistently applied; and to promote accountability, efficiency and effectiveness Korea should:
finalise the new humanitarian assistance policy, ensuring that it focuses on a limited number of objectives in areas where Korea can have solid impact – such as disaster response – and that it is applicable across government;	Partially implemented
determine and communicate clear criteria guiding whom, what and where to fund;	Partially implemented
put in place safeguards to ensure that its bilateral (in-kind) aid is always the most effective and appropriate response; and	Implemented
implement plans to make learning and reporting of results more systematic.	Partially implemented

Figure A.1. Korea's implementation of 2012 peer review recommendations