1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the 7th Policy Consultation between the Republic of Korea and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Seoul. The head delegates to the consultation from Korea and WFP were Won Doyeon, Director-General for Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Rania Dagash-Kamara, Assistant Executive Director for Partnerships and Innovation, respectively.

2. During the meeting, the two sides shared policies and priority action plans for resolving humanitarian crises, including the food crisis, and discussed ways to strengthen strategic cooperation between Korea, which is expanding its role in international humanitarian assistance as a major donor country, and WFP, the world's largest humanitarian organization.

3. Director-General Won explained that the Korean government, with its aspiration to become a Global Pivotal State contributing to addressing global challenges, is making greater efforts to enhance the effectiveness of its ODA including humanitarian assistance.

4. In this regard, Director-General Won suggested that the two sides strengthen their cooperation on humanitarian assistance activities, including emergency relief in overseas disasters due to natural disasters and conflicts, as well as on the humanitarian-development-peace nexus (HDP nexus), leveraging WFP’s expertise in the food sector and its transport and logistics capacity. He also said that both sides should develop the ROK-WFP partnership in a more effective and efficient way, based on continuous review and evaluation of their cooperation.

5. In addition, Director-General Won expressed hope that, in line with the increase in Korea’s contribution to WFP, the number of Korean nationals working in the organization would increase, and that the participation of Korean companies and NGOs in cooperation projects would be promoted. He also stressed that the visibility of Korea’s contributions needs to be enhanced, and called for attention and cooperation from the WFP side.

6. Assistant Executive Director Dagash-Kamara commended Korea’s efforts to strengthen humanitarian assistance in the midst of an unprecedented polycrisis, and called for closer cooperation on issues of common interest to both sides, including building resiliency to address the root causes of humanitarian crises, promoting innovation using data and new technologies, youth empowerment, and public-private partnerships, as well as emergency relief.

7. As part of the Korean government's efforts to strengthen ODA management to keep pace with the quantitative growth of ODA, the ‘ROK-WFP Project Implementation Review Segment’ was held for the first time. In this segment, the two sides closely reviewed their cooperation in development cooperation projects such as humanitarian assistance and the Conflict and Fragility Program, and in-kind support of rice. Both sides agreed to strengthen performance management and visibility, including through on-site monitoring.

8. The Korean government will continue to strengthen strategic cooperation with WFP through activities as a member of the WFP Executive Board as well as regular policy consultations, and actively contribute to addressing humanitarian crises, including food crises, as a Global Pivotal State.