1. Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Ham Sang-wook attended “the United Nations Virtual Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) High-level Pledging Event” on December 8, during which he took note of the significant role of CERF as a global disaster relief fund and announced that the Korean government pledges 6 million U.S. dollars to CERF for 2021.

° The Event was held to gather support and contribution of the international community for CERF which enables more timely and reliable humanitarian response to global humanitarian demand, which is growing at an unprecedented pace due to COVID-19, climate change and conflicts. It brought together delegates of international organizations, such as Secretary-General of the UN Guterres, UN member states and NGOs.

2. The participants took note that the UN CERF, as an international disaster relief fund “for all, by all,” has led life-saving activities, including extending the quickest aid to the most vulnerable populations, and rendered assistance in response to a wide range of crises, including COVID-19 in 2020 as well as natural disasters and severely under-funded crises. A total of about 50 countries, including the Republic of Korea, pledged 370 million U.S. dollars to CERF for 2021.

° Deputy Minister Ham voiced hope that CERF would be operated in a way that maximizes the effect of humanitarian assistance on the ground amid the increasingly complex nature of today’s humanitarian crises. He added that the Korean government has been contributing actively to addressing humanitarian crises across the world, including providing more than 100 million U.S. dollars in humanitarian assistance to help respond to COVID-19.

3. As a responsible member of the international community, the Korean government, including by contributing to the UN CERF, will take an active part in the international community’s concerted efforts to tackle humanitarian crises around the world.