Government to Provide 160 Billion KRW in Humanitarian Aid in Cooperation with UNDP and Other International Organizations

The government will work closely with three major UN development agencies this year to provide humanitarian aid worth approximately 160 billion KRW to regions such as the Middle East and Africa.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 3, Vice Minister Kim Jinah held a joint meeting with the senior representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and World Food Programme (WFP) on July 1 (local time) in Seville, Spain, on the sidelines of the 4th Development Finance Conference, and made this announcement.

During the meeting, Vice Minister Kim expressed South Korea's commitment to continue contributing to the international community in line with its national capacity and global standing. In response, the representatives of each agency expressed their appreciation and conveyed their expectations for further development of partnerships with South Korea in the future.

This year, the government has moved away from its previous approach of supporting numerous small-scale projects and has adopted an integrated strategy. This strategy involves grouping regions and countries with high humanitarian needs and international attention by theme, and implementing projects in partnership with key organizations.

In particular, the plan is to collaborate with agencies such as UNDP, UNICEF, and WFP, which possess expertise and operational capacity in the areas of emergency relief, children and health, and food, respectively.

The government plans to prioritize projects in countries and regions with the highest humanitarian needs due to prolonged armed conflicts, disputes, and chronic famine, including the Middle East (65 million USD), Asia (40 million USD), and Africa (22 million USD). The main target countries and regions include Palestine (such as the Gaza Strip), Syria, Myanmar, and Sudan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs assessed, "By utilizing a budget similar in scale to previous years more strategically, we will significantly enhance the effectiveness and visibility of our contributions and strengthen the government's influence within international organizations amid the changing landscape of international development cooperation."