This publication, Saemaul Initiative towards Inclusive and Sustainable New Communities Implementation Guidance will identify proven approaches and policy options for inclusive and sustainable local development, drawing on the expertise of the Republic of Korea’s Saemaul Undong (SMU)-New Village Movement- and other relevant solutions from development partners, including from the South. It will not only provide practitioners with background knowledge of the SMU and its application, but more importantly, it will showcase examples of interventions, potential synergies with other initiatives, as well as a list of tools that can be used in programme design, monitoring and evaluation of the updated version of Saemaul towards Inclusive and Sustainable New Communities (ISNC). The note was prepared based on findings through an extensive desk review as well as field research visits to six countries (Bolivia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Rwanda, Uganda and Viet Nam), which are currently rolling out the ISNC model.

Building on the experience of SMU, especially in terms of its self-help spirit and systemwide support to community initiative, this Guidance Note will also highlight inclusiveness and sustainability in the adaptation approach, with a proposed design strategy to link local, national, regional and global level efforts.

The Implementation Guidance Note aims to identify several pilot countries for testing out the ISNC approach, which will lay substantive ground for potential scaling-up of inclusive and sustainable communities regionally and globally and provide guidance on how countries can build on existing programmes to develop policy advice, contribute knowledge to the model through centres of excellence and promote South-South cooperation. It will suggest site selection criteria and indicators of success to implement UNDP’s global programme 'Inclusive and Sustainable New Communities' in different country contexts.

The Implementation Guidance Note will also offer guidance on how to facilitate triangular knowledge exchange and cooperation on proven solutions for local development by drawing on the experiences of the Republic of Korea and country-level implementation of the approach, and ensure that the lessons learned from the SMU and the updated approach influence global and regional development discourses.