Hwang Yae-ji one of first six accredited by aid agency

This is the third installment of a series of articles introducing programs and activities of the Korea International Cooperation Agency, a state-run organization for overseas assistance and humanitarian aid. -- Ed.


Hwang Yae-ji was well on her way to starting a career in law, until she discovered a new program on international assistance.

The 24-year-old has one of the highest scores for a test on official development assistance administered by the Korea International Cooperation Agency’s International Development Education Academy.

On Friday the Sogang University student and five others were awarded the first-ever level 3 “ODA Expert Certificates.”

“As one of the first people to receive this certificate, I feel nervous, responsible and the need to be an expert that continues to amass knowledge and understanding of the issue,” said Hwang.

Hwang is one of 21 people who have taken four or more courses at IDEA. The academy offers a wide range of courses including general introductions, international development cooperation and technical courses covering public-private partnerships.

“I hope that the people awarded with this certification can use the opportunity to go out into the global field and work as experts in international development cooperation,” said Cho Kwang-geol, director of IDEA.

However Hwang was not always geared toward overseas aid.

“My father wanted me to become a judicial officer so that is the path I walked, without ever questioning it. Before I started taking courses, I simply thought of ODA as just aid,” recalled the senior.

Through IDEA’s efforts in expanding courses to universities all over the nation, Hwang was able to learn more about ODA.

“I took a development course at my university and while I took that class I gained a bigger vision of what I wanted to do including learning about the academy. But as I took classes at IDEA and also interned at KOICA, I saw how they ran things, monitored and evaluated things, and that is how I came to realize how important ODA is,” she said.

But when Hwang decided to pursue her interest in development her parents were concerned.

“When I told my parents that I did not necessarily want to go into law, my mother wanted me to at least take the test for public administration so that I could work for something stable,” said Hwang.

But her parents eventually warmed to the idea, especially after she interned for KOICA and received her certificate. Now Hwang says her parents are more aware of the postings in her career than her, making sure that she applies for KOICA job postings as she prepares to graduate this summer.

Hwang intends to either work for KOICA directly or volunteer overseas, and gain more qualifications.

“I plan on studying to get both the level two certificate and the level one certificate. I am interested in studying the impact on the host countries’ environment when administering ODA,” she said.

She brought up the example of Korea and how negative effects on the environment were an afterthought in the country’s development.

“I have always been conscious about the environment and how it affects us, and I think that is why I am interested in development and how it affects the environment.”

To prepare for volunteering overseas Hwang has also studied Korean language education and plans on learning another language.

Hwang says she would like to work in Africa.

“While I worked as an intern at KOICA, I worked for the Africa team, and after meeting many people from different countries on the continent, I think I would like to go to Africa, if given the chance.”

As an intern, Hwang was able to meet officials from countries including Tunisia, Ethiopia and Rwanda.

Hwang also had an “eye-opening” experience after taking a course at her university about the continent and its culture.

“I simply thought it was a poor group of countries, but as I learned about their culture, food, religion, human rights and other aspects, I discovered a lot,” she said.

Hwang hopes that Korea can be remembered as the Tiare in Somerset Maugham’s “Moon and Sixpence.”

Tiare, a scented while flower, is described in the story as having a smell that draws one back no matter how far they go. Hwang hopes that Korea will be able to offer warm and caring assistance, and can be remembered by other countries no matter how far away they are.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)