- The UNDP Seoul Policy Centre shares Korea’s development experience through its “SDG Partnerships” initiative -

- The Foreign Ministry and the UNDP review 2024 achievements and discuss 2025 plans -

1. On Friday, February 7, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) held the 2025 meeting of the Steering Committee of the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre in Seoul.

* The attendees included Mr. Park Jonghan, Director-General for Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Marcos Neto, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support at the UNDP (via video link); and Ms. Anne Juepner, Director of the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre.

* The UNDP Seoul Policy Centre, established in 2011, is a policy research institute under the UNDP, based in Seoul.

- The Centre implements a range of initiatives — including the ”SDGs Partnerships” program — designed to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries, by leveraging Korea’s development experiences and proven models.

2. During the meeting, both sides reviewed the Centre’s achievements in 2024 and discussed key focus areas and plans for 2025. They appreciated the Centre’s continued progress in sharing Korea’s development experiences with developing countries through the SDGs Partnerships and agreed to continue their efforts to further enhance its outcomes and effectiveness.

3. Both sides also agreed to seek ways for the Centre to share Korea’s development experience through more diverse approaches, given the Centre’s capability to effectively integrate Korea’s development experience with the UNDP’s strategic priorities and policy framework to advance development cooperation.

4. They appreciated the continued advancement of the Korea-UNDP partnership including through the visit of UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner to Korea and the joint hosting of the “Seoul Debates” in October last year. In particular, the UNDP expressed deep appreciation for Korea’s significant increase in regular contributions to the UNDP last year and its growing role in international development cooperation.

* In 2024, the Republic of Korea contributed USD18 million in core funding to UNDP — an increase of approximately 68% compared to that of 2023.

5. Both sides committed to continuing their efforts to advance and expand Korea-UNDP partnership toward achieving SDGs and supporting the resolution of ongoing global humanitarian crises.