The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Bangladesh Office organized a KOICA-NGO Partnership Enhancement Workshop 2026 with partner representatives from ADRA, Global Care, Heart to Heart Foundation, Oxfam, Save the Children, Concern Worldwide, and its local partner Jagrata Juba Shanga (JJS), with BRAC participating as a guest organization, a press release said.
The workshop aimed to foster peer learning and the exchange of experiences among participating organizations, while promoting community sustainability through locally led solutions and stronger community ownership.
The event also marked the conclusion of a peer-learning process through which participating organizations visited one another’s projects and field-level interventions. During the workshop, organizations shared key learnings from the visits, along with insights into their own work, ground-level experiences, and good practices. The discussions enabled participants to learn from diverse community-based approaches and reflect on how these experiences could be adapted and integrated to strengthen the sustainability of interventions. Aligning with this, one participant shared that the peer-learning experience broadened their perspective on community-led approaches, offering new ideas that could help make their interventions more relevant, responsive, and sustainable to the needs of the communities they serve.
This initiative contributes to KOICA’s broader objective in Bangladesh of supporting sustainable economic growth and improving the socio-economic environment. Through peer learning and knowledge exchange across organizations working in sectors such as health, education, climate resilience, livelihoods, and social development, KOICA aims to promote inclusive, locally responsive, and sustainable approaches that strengthen community-level development.
In his remarks, Jihoon Kim, Country Director of the KOICA Bangladesh Office, stated that “KOICA aims to bring together the strengths of civil society and diverse stakeholders to deliver more effective, sustainable, and inclusive development outcomes in Bangladesh.” He also emphasized the importance of sustaining successful approaches beyond the project period by strengthening community ownership and local capacity, and building stronger linkages with government institutions, local governments, and other relevant stakeholders.
Hyunwoo Yang, Deputy Country Director of the KOICA Bangladesh Office, highlighted KOICA’s evolving development cooperation priorities and strategic direction in Bangladesh, including perspectives on upcoming areas of engagement and project initiatives. Ms. Sujin Kong, Deputy Country Director of the KOICA Bangladesh Office, also contributed to the discussions and the exchange of experiences among participating organizations.
The workshop concluded with a shared commitment to continued peer learning, knowledge exchange, and collaboration among KOICA and civil society organizations to strengthen sustainable, community-led development in Bangladesh.
