The Foreign Ministry and the Korea International Cooperation Agency have kicked off their annual international conference on official development assistance (ODA).

The theme for this year's event is: “Searching for effective measures to achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goals.”

The conference is expected to draw some 500 participants including Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, who provided the theoretical basis for the millennium development goals, along with leaders of international organizations such as the U.N. Development Program.

In 2002, the United Nations General Assembly issued its Millennium Declaration, committing the world body's 189 member states to eight goals including eradicating extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education and reducing infant mortality in the next decade.