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THE ASIA FOUNDATION IN KOREA
Highlights
The Asia Foundation and KOICA Open New Women's Business Center and Incubator in Ulaanbaatar
On July 6, 2016, The Asia Foundation, in partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the City of Ulaanbaatar, launched Ulaanbaatar's first Women's Business Center and Incubator to empower female entrepreneurs. The Asia Foundation has assembled a public-private partnership to provide finance, business, and marketing training to the established and burgeoning female business owners of Ulaanbaatar.
The pilot project will last three years, and create a supportive environment for women entrepreneurs to start new businesses and grow existing small businesses. The business center will also offer training programs, business consultancy services, and networking opportunities. Additionally, the incubator will offer a select number of women specialized training and professional mentoring.
KOICA provides financial support to the Ulaanbaatar Women's Business Center through its Civil Society Organizations Partnership Program (CPP).
Seoul Metropolitan Government and The Asia Foundation Sign MOU
The Asia Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) on April 12, 2016 to collaborate on a number of programs including urban and environmental issues. The Foundation's President David D. Arnold and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon participated at a special signing ceremony and discussed the importance of the partnership.
The Asia Foundation Observes April Korean Elections
Tim Meisburger, The Asia Foundation's Regional Director for Elections and Political Processes, participated in the April Korea Election Visitors Program, co-sponsored by the Korean National Election Commission (NEC) and Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB). The program featured detailed demonstrations of polling and counting processes, an observation program for Korea's 20th national elections, and a session on campaign financing.
In an article published in the Foundation's blog In Asia, Mr. Meisburger stated, "What we liked most about the process was that the National Election Commission was able to seamlessly integrate the technological aspect of the process with a human element so that the process was very transparent and credible, as credible as a manual process because party agents and others were able to observe all aspects of the process even though it was automated." Please click on the following link for the full article (link here) covering Mr. Meisburger's visit.
2016 Asian Views on America's Role in Asia Northeast Asia Workshop Hosted in Seoul
The Asia Foundation, in partnership with the Korean American Association in Seoul and Carnegie Corporation of New York, kicked off its 2016 iteration of Asian Views on America's Role in Asia, with a Northeast Asia sub-regional workshop in Seoul. The dialogue brought together experts from the region to discuss means to foster greater understanding between Asia and the United States. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoon Young-kwan (Seoul National University) chaired the meeting, which was attended by 15 distinguished policy experts, former diplomats, and scholars from Korea, China, Japan and Mongolia.
America's Role in Asia examines critical bilateral and trans-national issues in U.S.-Asia relations through a series of candid, high-level workshops in Asia and the United States. Following the Seoul meeting, the project proceeded with two additional sub-regional meetings held in Bangkok (April 20-22) and Colombo (April 25-27). Results from the discussions will culminate in a published volume, America's Role in Asia: Asian and American Views, written by the participants. The release of the recommendations is planned to coincide with the upcoming U.S. presidential and congressional elections and aims to provide unique perspectives for forthcoming U.S. policy towards Asia.
2016 Asia Foundation Development Fellows Embark on a Year-Long Fellowship in Seoul
The Asia Foundation hosted the 2016 class of the Asia Foundation Development Fellows: Emerging Leadership for Asia's Future program in Seoul, Korea. Coming together for the first time as a community of young change makers representing 11 countries, the 2016 Development Fellows participated in a customized Leadership Training Program in Korea held in partnership with the Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management (KDI School), with generous support from Lotte Group.
The Fellows were welcomed with a reception held by the Friends of The Asia Foundation (FOTAF) on April 11 and participated in an intensive one-week Leadership Development Workshop program led by the KDI School Capacity Building Center. Sessions included anti-corruption and good governance, development entrepreneurship, and conflict resolution with focus on strategic thinking and collective leadership. The program continued in Mongolia where the Fellows engaged with leading development innovators and policy-makers. In September, the Fellows will visit San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, DC for a two-week leadership dialogue and exchange.
14th Meeting of the Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation Dialogue Series Held in Beijing: Asian NGOs Expand Global Influence
The 14th meeting of the Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation (AADC) dialogue series was held in Beijing, China from April 19-20, 2016 under the theme of "Non-State Actors in Asian Development Cooperation: The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations." The meeting was hosted by the China Association for NGO Cooperation (CANGO) and The Asia Foundation's China office with additional support from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
During the meeting, civil society and government participants shared their experiences on the role of NGOs in development cooperation in Asia. Sessions highlighted NGO advocacy work, legal and policy environment for NGOs, and opportunities for collaboration and capacity building among Asian NGOs.
Jointly convened by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and The Asia Foundation, and now in its 6th year, AADC is an ongoing series that addresses how Asian countries' engagement in development and South-South cooperation is changing the global aid landscape and the development prospects for the region.
Korean Journalist Selected for Harvard's 2017 Nieman Fellowship
On April 28, The Asia Foundation announced that Kim Kyoungtae, editor and director of Election Broadcasting Planning at Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) in Seoul, has been selected by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard for a prestigious Nieman Fellowship. Mr. Kim is the 28th Korean journalist chosen since the Foundation began sponsoring Asian participants in the fellowship program in 1956.
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism has hosted more than 1,500 accomplished journalists from 94 countries since 1938. The fellowship has expanded in recent years to include new collaborative and experimental programs. In addition to taking classes during their time at Harvard, fellows attend Nieman seminars, workshops and master classes and work on their research with Harvard scholars and other leading thinkers in the Cambridge area.
Mr. Kim will study the proper role of media in peacefully solving international conflicts, focusing specifically on Northeast Asia. He will also explore developments in providing interactive news contents to mobile devices. Mr. Kim served as director of Election Broadcasting Planning at MBC during the April 2016 parliamentary elections in Korea. Read Mr. Kim's In Asia blog on the elections here.
The Asia Foundation sponsorship of Korean journalists in the Nieman Fellowship is made possible through the generous support of the Sungkok Journalism Foundation and YBM, Inc.
Through its Asian American Exchange unit, The Asia Foundation seeks to encourage greater understanding between Asians and Americans with the ultimate aim of contributing towards strengthened U.S.-Asia relations.
Korean Nieman Fellows Reunion
Eight Korean alumni of the Harvard Nieman Fellowship program gathered on May 21, 2016 to share experiences and update each other on activities since participating in the program. Nieman's Deputy Curator James Geary and presidents of the two local sponsoring organizations, Mr. Han Jong-woo (Sungkok Journalism Foundation) and Mr. Min Sunshik (YBM, Inc), also joined the event.
Korean Delegation Visits Myanmar to Study International Development Cooperation in Countries in Transition
As part of an ongoing partnership with KDI School to implement international development cooperation capacity building projects, the Korea office led a 12-member delegation to Myanmar from May 14-22, 2016 for a study tour focused on "International Development Cooperation in Countries in Political, Economic and Social Transition." The delegation included practitioners from the Korean government, NGO community, and academia who were selected to participate in the program.
During the week-long study tour, the delegation visited KOICA's Myanmar office, the Korean Embassy, Asia Development Bank (ADB), Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD), Development Resource Institute (MDRI), Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), Foreign Economic Relations Department (FERD), Myanmar Parliament Office and Euro-Burma Office (EBO). Through the experience, the delegates were able to deepen their understanding of Myanmar including the historical and political contexts, as well as development challenges that the country faces. Through the experience, participants were also able to build networks and gain first-hand knowledge about the practices of The Asia Foundation and other development agencies, which will strengthen their capacity for effective project planning and implementation in the future.
"Let's Read!" Asia Digital Library Expands to Mongolia
The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia Program; Mongolia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science; and Library For All kicked off "Let’s Read! Mongolia," a children’s digital library that will deliver an entire library of stories into the hands of underprivileged students. The signing event took place in Ulaanbaatar on January 28 attended by Mongolia’s Minster of Education and other members of Parliament. Among the sponsors of the project, Booyoung Corporation supported the purchase of tablet computers and app development.
Since 1954, Books for Asia has donated print books to thousands of needy educational institutions in 21 Asian countries each year. The "Let’s Read" project was first successfully launched in Cambodia in November 2015 thanks to a number of early supporters, including Air Busan, who purchased tablet computers for the project.
New Publication! "Social Mobility: Experiences and Lessons from Asia"
Together with the Korea Development Institute (KDI), The Asia Foundation recently published "Social Mobility: Experiences and Lessons from Asia" based on the Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation (AADC) dialogue series held in Sri Lanka and Korea in 2014.
Since 2010, AADC has provided a forum for Asian officials, experts, policy makers, and development practitioners to address the challenges and opportunities that face the region, which at the same time also opens the door to opportunities for south-south cooperation. In 2014, The Asia Foundation examined the trends and prospects for social and economic mobility in Asia through meetings held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Seoul, Korea. The collection of papers in this volume provide insight into unique national experiences and address the reforms that are required to make upward social and economic mobility accessible to Asia's poor. The publication is available for download here.
TAF Korea Reaches Out
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June 8: Dylan Davis, Korea Country Representative, participated as a judge and discussant in the 2016 Ewha International Girls' Health Student Writing Competition. The Asia Foundation provided a travel grant to the organizers to support finalists from Cambodia and the Philippines. For a summary, photos, and news clips of the event, see here.
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February 20-21: The Asia Foundation participated in a KOICA-sponsored Expo in Daejeon to promote people's awareness on international development cooperation, job opportunities for youth, as well as volunteer opportunities.
Articles by Friends of The Asia Foundation Korea
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