Korea-UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Office Video Conference... Discussion on Effective Humanitarian Aid

Responding to the Global Humanitarian Crisis Caused by COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 4th that it held the 5th Korea-UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Policy Consultation via video conference.

On our side, Cho Young-moo, Director General of the Development Cooperation Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and on the OCHA side, Ramesh Rajasingham, Emergency Relief Coordinator, attended as chief representatives, respectively.

At this policy consultation, both sides agreed that the global humanitarian crisis has worsened unprecedentedly due to COVID-19, and that a unified and coordinated response from the international community is essential. They discussed cooperation measures for more effective humanitarian assistance amid limited resources and restrictions on logistics and personnel movement.

Our side evaluated OCHA’s early establishment of the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan and its prompt deployment of the UN pooled fund, leading the international community’s COVID-19 response. It emphasized that OCHA’s role is more important than ever in the increasingly complex humanitarian environment caused by COVID-19.

Furthermore, our government explained that to contribute to the international community’s COVID-19 response efforts, it has provided quarantine supplies such as diagnostic kits and masks to over 110 countries, while actively supporting chronic crises like those in Syria and Yemen, as well as emergency disasters such as floods and desert locust swarms, thereby actively responding to global humanitarian needs.

The UN side evaluated Korea’s significant role not only in COVID-19 response support through sharing successful quarantine experiences and providing quarantine supplies but also in global humanitarian assistance. They also expressed gratitude for Korea’s support of the UN’s humanitarian coordination and local relief activities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.