ADDIS ABABA – The Korea International Cooperation Agency unveiled plan to bring additional Korean volunteers to join hands with the Ethiopian people to help the country achieve prosperity and peace.
The Korea International Cooperation Agency(KOICA), Ethiopia Country Director, Cho Han Deog said that the agency has been working to increase the number of Korean volunteers that would team up with the Ethiopian people to make the African country prosperous, peaceful and inclusive.
Before the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, there were thousands of Korean volunteers in Ethiopia lending hands for the development of the health and other sectors, but the pandemic affected the number of volunteers, the Director recalled, mentioning that Korea was the first country to send volunteers to Ethiopia in the fight against the pandemic.
Despite the tangible progresses in Ethiopia’s health system in the past several decades, a lot remain to be done in line with the huge number of people that require healthcare services and KOICA has been supporting the sector, he stated.
KOICA Ethiopia Office Deputy Country Director Jung Sun-Ha for her part said that Korean volunteers are working hard here in Ethiopia to improve lives and strengthen both countries’ partnership.
The volunteers dispatched by KOICA are based on their experiences in areas they can contribute to Ethiopia’s growth, especially in public sectors, she said, adding that there are 12 volunteers servicing in Ethiopia including two global doctors.
According to Cho Han Deog, there are also Korean volunteers in Ethiopian schools to improve quality of education, advance children’s educational performance and library quality, in which, the library enhancement project is resulting tangible outcome in terms of improving students’ results.
KOICA has been actively supporting Ethiopia’s development in manufacturing, healthcare, education and climate change adaptation. The agency is also assisting Ethiopia in dairy development, TVET, health institutions construction and business startups. Particularly, it has been supporting internally displaced peoples (IDPs), efforts to make the country to be more inclusive and peaceful, restore forest coverage, gender based violence victims, manufacturing sector capabilities and other projects in bid to facilitate country’s economic development, he said.
BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN
The Ethiopian Herald November 3/2024
