The international community recognizes civil society as an independent development actor and development cooperation partner. Development NGOs and various civil society organizations(CSO) in Korea have long led the field with civil society initiatives for reaching out to sustainable development. Development Cooperation and Civil Society Research Group is a forum where academic researchers and CSO practitioners gather to research and discuss theories, policies and practices in the international development cooperation. We will continue to research through KAIDEC's regular academic conferences and monthly discussion sessions.

Established in 2016, the Evaluation Research Group aims to contribute to the advancement of evaluation and performance management in the field of international development. The research group promotes research by supporting academic activities on broad topics and for the practical sphere, as well as disseminating up-to-date evaluation knowledge to practitioners. The research group has been running annual training programs on monitoring and evaluating international development. The research group comprises researchers, field specialists and students, and its membership is open to those who are interested.

Based on universal humanitarianism, the Humanitarian Assistance Research Group was established to share various perspectives of researchers, government officials, and field practitioners on domestic and international legal systems and policies of operation, implementation cycle and mechanism, monitoring and evaluation of various humanitarian actions, carried out for amelioration of human suffering under emergency crisis such as armed conflict, natural and man-made disasters. Since its inception, the research group’s critical research topics have expanded, ranging from international humanitarian assistance policies, post-crisis resilience, and civil-military coordination and cooperation to monitoring and evaluation of humanitarian assistance programs.
Recently, the research group explores a conceptual framework for the nexus of humanitarian assistance and development cooperation that is emerging with the launch of the SDGs in 2015. It furthers to suggest a developmental policy recommendation to the overseas humanitarian assistance system of Korea.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the important cross-cutting issues in international development cooperation. ICT for development (ICT4D) refers that ICT can be applied in the social, economic, and political development with a particular emphasis on helping poor and marginalized people in developing countries. The Republic of Korea is the leading country in ICT and implements many ICT4D projects in cooperation with partner countries.
However, research in ICT4D is sporadic and limited. It is necessary to reinforce ICT4D research in KAIDEC (Korea Association International Development and Cooperation) as well as in international development communities. Thus, the ICT4D Research Group was established in 2016, based on the existing study group since 2014. The activities of ICT4D Research Group include monthly seminars, participation in KAIDEC conferences and so on. Any member of KAIDEC can join with us.

The importance of investing in education for sustainable development has never been more important, living in the era of knowledge society. However, previous development discourses on the relation between development and education, emphasizing education as driver of national and economic development have narrowed down the potentials of education and learning in the areas of international development. In this context, the International Development and Education Research Group members with background of education policy and administration education, education sociology, anthropology, comparative education, human resources development programs, Technical Vocational Education and Training, commonly seek to cross-cut key theoretical themes such as access, quality and equity in international development and education, education and social change, education and gender, human resource development, knowledge and learning as well as lifelong learning. Ultimately, the research group intends to create the international, national and local linkages between scholars, researchers, postgraduate and professionals, and to create dynamic space for joint research, teaching and mutual learning in the areas of international development and education.

Universal health coverage(UHC) means that all people in a society are able to obtain the health services without fear that the cost of paying for these services at the time of use. UHC has become a major policy priority in many countries, especially developing countries. UHC has become a focus of attention at the international level, forming one of the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 3.8.
The International Health Research Group deals and discusses with many issues around UHC and international health, such as health system performance, health financing strategy, equity, efficiency, transparency, accountability in the distribution of health system resources, water and hygiene, non-communicable diseases (NCD), maternal and child health.

North Korea Development Cooperation Research Group was organized to share academic as well as empirical researches and discussions on development cooperation in Korea. In particular, we aim to contribute to deepening and further developing researches about North Korea by combining specific and expert knowledge on North Korea with general discussion about international development cooperation. We also deal with not only North Korean issues but various topics that are related to global sustainable development as well as peace in the Korean peninsula.

Social Economy Research Group consists of the KAIDEC members concerning the social economy for international development and cooperation. We aim not only to do research the theories of social economy, but also to promote the best practices of sustainable and inclusive development. The research areas range from social economy in general to co-operatives, social enterprises, Fair Trade, etc.

Gender equality is not only a goal in itself, but a fundamental precondition for global sustainable development. Despite such recognition gender inequality remains a persistent problem throughout societies, from gender pay gap and disproportionate burden of women in unpaid care work to women’s underrepresentation in politics and gender-based violence. In the field of development cooperation, OECD DAC member countries providing assistance report their shares of aid in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment. With around 40% of total bilateral aid representing support for gender equality, mainstreaming gender in development is an ongoing challenge. Gender Research Group consists of academics and practitioners in Korea connected by commitment to make progress with gender equality in development. Through regular meetings the group discusses and shares views on contemporary policies on gender equality and opportunities for research collaboration.

The Island Regional Development Cooperation Research Group aims to study the universality and specificity of island regional development cooperation. We will conduct research focusing on various cases and contribute to discovering the value of island development cooperation contributing to sustainable development from various perspectives through interdisciplinary research. It also deals with various topics that are related to sustainable development as well as island development issues. The research group comprises researchers, field specialists and students, and its membership is open to those who are interested.