Policy Tool for Keeping Minimum Standards of Children’s Rights in Korean International Development Cooperation

Children are very important beneficiaries in any international development cooperation project. Even though children’s rights is the first thing to consider in developing, selecting, implementing, and evaluating a project, no guidelines existed in Korea for the stake-holders. The purpose of this study was to develop a policy tool for guaranteeing children’s rights when Korean government conducts an international development cooperation project. In order to achieve this, Korean contexts in the areas of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Sustainable Development Goals, and International Development Cooperation were reviewed. On the basis of this literature review, criteria corresponding to each stage of the projects (development, selection, implementation, and evaluation) were presented, each with four quality levels (Minimum, Fair, Good, Excellence). The two levels Minimum and Fair indicate essential elements that the Korean government and business parties must observe. This tool allows the Korean government to consider children’s rights from lower to higher levels in any international development cooperation project. In addition, the tool can serve as a criterion and a strategy to enhance the sensitivity of children’s rights so that stakeholders around international development cooperation can consider and evaluate various aspects, in the best interests of the children around the world.