1. A project under Korea Aid, a new, Korean-style model of development cooperation being implemented by the government of the Republic of Korea, was conducted on May 30 and 31 at the National Farmers Leadership Centre in Uganda, the cradle of Saemaul Undong (new community movement) in Africa, bringing together some 600 local residents.

2. President Park Geun-hye of the ROK and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda attended the opening ceremony of the National Farmers Leadership Centre, Africa’s first education and training center for agricultural leaders-to-be, and visited the site where the Korea Aid project was under way. The two Presidents made a tour of the vehicles providing healthcare, food and cultural services. During the tour, they offered encouragement to the medical staff, volunteer workers and other participants and heard about locals’ impressions of the Korea Aid project.

3. For the healthcare project, a nine-member medical personnel from Ewha Womans University Medical Center and the National Medical Center were dispatched to the project site in Uganda, where they were joined by four local doctors and six local nurses. The medical staff offered various medical services, including treatments in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and internal medicine; and education on first aid and sanitation. They also provided medical and healthcare supplies.

° An internist from the National Medical Center voiced hope that the healthcare project under Korea Aid, which consists of medical treatment and health education, will help local residents with limited access to medical services maintain their health.

° A nine-month pregnant women from Mpigi district, who had walked for an hour from home to receive medical care, expressed hope that Korea Aid would be implemented in other regions and allow many more people to benefit from the services.

4. For the food project, Korea’s signature dishes were offered along with those from Uganda. Bwona Joseph, a Korean cuisine chef from Uganda, called bibimbap, a Korean signature dish, a healthy dish with various ingredients in it. He added that during the project, he would make bibimbap with locally available ingredients and provide the healthy dish to local residents.

° For the health of children and pregnant women, nutrition fortified rice cookies and rice flour were offered, drawing keen interest and popularity from locals. Uganda, which has fertile soil and rich water resources, such as Lake Victoria, is dubbed “East Africa’s breadbasket” for its active rice production. As rice production plays a big role in food security, the ROK and Uganda seem to have great potential for agricultural cooperation.

5. The locals who participated in the cultural project enjoyed video clips on various aspects of Korean culture and tourism, including K-pop and the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, expressing amazement over the beauty of Korea’s nature and the richness of Korean culture.

6. In Uganda, the African country where Saemaul Undong is most actively and successfully under way, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Korea Saemaul Undong Center are carrying out projects to create “pilot Saemaul Undong villages” in 30-odd towns, including Mpigi and Nsangi. In 2015, a Saemaul Undong contest drew applications from some 190 villages, which demonstrates Uganda’s keen interest in Saemaul Undong as a national strategy for agricultural and rural development.

7. The launch of the Korea Aid project with the opening of the National Farmers Leadership Centre, Africa’s first education and training center for agricultural leaders-to-be, is notable in terms of the possibility of linking Saemaul Undong to Korea Aid. If Korea Aid projects are conducted in pilot Saemaul Undong villages in a region-specific way, the two projects are expected to create synergistic effect.

8. Building on its Korea Aid experience in Uganda, the ROK government plans to implement in the second half of the year 2016 a development cooperation project designed to give Ugandan women and children a greater access to healthcare services. In particular, the ROK government will conduct a Korea Aid project in eastern Uganda on a monthly basis.


* unofficial translation