Overseas Development Institute Conference

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London, UK

May 20-21, 2019

1. The Overseas Development Institute Conference entitled “Building Better Development Agencies” took place in London from the 20th to the 21st of May in 2019. The conference provided a platform for a conversation on the challenges and opportunities of South-North collaboration and the future of the global development system two months after the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation. It was attended by experts from the global North and South coming from governments, intergovernmental organizations, and academia.

2. Ms. Kyung-ah Lee, Deputy Director-General for Development Cooperation, represented the Republic of Korea at the conference. Participants acknowledged the challenges in reaching consensus on common principles for development cooperation given the large increase in development cooperation provider types. Nevertheless, it was accepted by all participants that the minimum fundamental principles should be agreed upon through field-based dialogues and cooperation and that development cooperation should result in the sharing of knowledge and capacity building.