The4thconsultativemeetingonassistancetowardNorthKoreabetweenthegovernmentandtheprivatesector,aconsultativebodybetweenthegovernm
The 4th consultative meeting on assistance toward North Korea between the government and the private sector, a consultative body between the government and South Korean organizations providing humanitarian assistance toward North Korea was held in the morning on December 8 at the Ministry of Unification.
This meeting was co-chaired by Lee Bong-jo, Vice Minister and Kang Moon-kyu, chairman of the association of civic organizations for cooperation with North Korea with the participation of related ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the South Korean Red Cross, and the standing operating organizations involved in the association. The agenda for discussions at the meeting included implemented projects this year, such as joint projects by the government and civic groups, drawing-up of the manual on emergency & disaster relief activities, publication of the White Paper on 10-year experience of aid toward North Korea, as well as directions of projects next year.
The five joint projects that have newly been implemented this year are projects that have been neglected until now during the course of aiding North Korea and projects that needed long-term rehabilitation. These projects were initially promoted by many South Korean civic groups and after negotiations with the North Korean partners per various sub-committees, the projects were promoted on a full-scale in the second half of this year and parts of the projects will be initiated before early next year.
The five joint projects include a pilot project to improve the living environments for North Koreans, a pilot project aiming at achieving self-sufficiency of feeding livestock, a pilot project to improve infrastructure related to medical sanitation, a pilot project related to health and welfare of mothers and children, and a pilot project to develop water for agriculture and sanitation. The projects will require a budget of approximately 9.2 billion Korean won (equivalent of about U.S. 9 million dollars)
Continuous efforts will be made to improve the manual on emergency & disaster relief activities in a bid to increase effectiveness of the relief process through close cooperation between related organizations and civic groups in the case of an emergency and disaster that needs humanitarian assistance.
The White paper celebrating 10 years of aid to North Korea sums up the history of humanitarian assistance provided to North Korea during the last decade and will serve as a touchstone for new directions by sharing the know-how related with the process of providing assistance. The White Paper will be published by the end of this year.
In addition, civic groups and the government agreed to share and exchange information as well as opinions concerning the directions for next year projects and also to maintain a constructive and mutually beneficial cooperative relationship in the future.
