Republic of Korea
General Debate
Ministerial Segment of the 2017 High Le:vel Political Forum and
High Lev~I Segment of the Economic and Social Council
19th July 2017
The Trusteeship Council Chamber, UN Headquarter, New York
Remarks by
Mr. Jinkyu Jeong
Director General of Development Cooperation Bureau
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea
His Excellency Amb. Frederick Shava,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the Chair for organizing this important
meeting.
I am very pleased to see that the number of countries participating in the VNR has more
than doubled since last year and highly appreciate the efforts made by the 44 participating
countries.
In the last year's VNR, the Republic of Korea received valuable comments from fellow
participants and civil society organizations, especially on how to coordinate efforts for
the implementation of SDGs at home. We have been trying to improve the existing
domestic implementation mechanism, where the Commission on Sustainable
Development plays a central role. The Commission published the Report on National
Sustainability last year, mainstreaming SDGs into policy guidelines.
1
Externally, the Republic of Korea is helping developing countries achieve the SDGs. We
are currently working on establishing an ODA Results Evaluation Framework to
mainstream the SDGs into our ODA policies. This will systematically link the SDGs,
their targets and indicators to our ten core ODA areas; namely, education, health, public
administration, rural development, water, transportation, energy, gender equality, .climate
change, and science, technology and innovation.
The Republic of Korea holds a deep interest in providing assistance to the most
vulnerable - those living in the least-developed and fragile countries, women and
children, and refugees. In 2016, we con~ibuted 574 million dollars to the least-developed
countries and 626 million to fragile countries.
The Republic of Korea will at the same time continue to expand its humanitarian
assistance for those enduring the most serious refugee crisis in modern history. We
contributed over 50 million dollars to refugees in 2016 and will contribute another 230
million by 2018, as we pledged at the Leaders' Summit on Refugees held here in New
York in September 2016.
Distinguished delegates, _
Those efforts to combat poverty, however laudable, will fall well short of achieving
prosperity without fairness, justice and equal opportunities for all. Therefore, while
continuing its current efforts to implement the SDGs in a balanced manner, the Republic
_of Korea will strive to promote peace and democracy.
In this context, we will help fragile countries strengthen their social and economic
institutions through our Conflict-Affected and Fragile Countries Support Strategy. We
believe this is of the utmost importance since effective, accountable and inclusive
institutions are the enabling factor to attaining the other SDGs.
2
l
·, ..
As indicated in the theme of this year's HLPF, the world is changing. In order to realize
our vision of eliminating poverty and promoting prosperity, we cannot depend solely on .
government efforts. The government of the Republic of Korea therefore welcomes the
non-public sector's contribution and participation in development cooperation. We will
join hands with companies and civil society to promote inclusive business models and
improve monitoring on government policies.
The Republic of Korea hopes to build a more open, stable and peaceful planet through
these efforts. As a responsible member of the international community, Korea will join in
global efforts to create and provide global public goods.
Thank you. /End/
3
Ministerial Segment of the 2017 High Le:vel Political Forum and
High Lev~I Segment of the Economic and Social Council
19th July 2017
The Trusteeship Council Chamber, UN Headquarter, New York
Remarks by
Mr. Jinkyu Jeong
Director General of Development Cooperation Bureau
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea
His Excellency Amb. Frederick Shava,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the Chair for organizing this important
meeting.
I am very pleased to see that the number of countries participating in the VNR has more
than doubled since last year and highly appreciate the efforts made by the 44 participating
countries.
In the last year's VNR, the Republic of Korea received valuable comments from fellow
participants and civil society organizations, especially on how to coordinate efforts for
the implementation of SDGs at home. We have been trying to improve the existing
domestic implementation mechanism, where the Commission on Sustainable
Development plays a central role. The Commission published the Report on National
Sustainability last year, mainstreaming SDGs into policy guidelines.
1
Externally, the Republic of Korea is helping developing countries achieve the SDGs. We
are currently working on establishing an ODA Results Evaluation Framework to
mainstream the SDGs into our ODA policies. This will systematically link the SDGs,
their targets and indicators to our ten core ODA areas; namely, education, health, public
administration, rural development, water, transportation, energy, gender equality, .climate
change, and science, technology and innovation.
The Republic of Korea holds a deep interest in providing assistance to the most
vulnerable - those living in the least-developed and fragile countries, women and
children, and refugees. In 2016, we con~ibuted 574 million dollars to the least-developed
countries and 626 million to fragile countries.
The Republic of Korea will at the same time continue to expand its humanitarian
assistance for those enduring the most serious refugee crisis in modern history. We
contributed over 50 million dollars to refugees in 2016 and will contribute another 230
million by 2018, as we pledged at the Leaders' Summit on Refugees held here in New
York in September 2016.
Distinguished delegates, _
Those efforts to combat poverty, however laudable, will fall well short of achieving
prosperity without fairness, justice and equal opportunities for all. Therefore, while
continuing its current efforts to implement the SDGs in a balanced manner, the Republic
_of Korea will strive to promote peace and democracy.
In this context, we will help fragile countries strengthen their social and economic
institutions through our Conflict-Affected and Fragile Countries Support Strategy. We
believe this is of the utmost importance since effective, accountable and inclusive
institutions are the enabling factor to attaining the other SDGs.
2
l
·, ..
As indicated in the theme of this year's HLPF, the world is changing. In order to realize
our vision of eliminating poverty and promoting prosperity, we cannot depend solely on .
government efforts. The government of the Republic of Korea therefore welcomes the
non-public sector's contribution and participation in development cooperation. We will
join hands with companies and civil society to promote inclusive business models and
improve monitoring on government policies.
The Republic of Korea hopes to build a more open, stable and peaceful planet through
these efforts. As a responsible member of the international community, Korea will join in
global efforts to create and provide global public goods.
Thank you. /End/
3
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