WFP welcomes US$20 million core contribution from the Government of the Republic of Korea

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received a US$20 million core contribution from the Government of the Republic of Korea (ROK), which will strengthen WFP’s ability to maximize the effectiveness of resources by acting early, ensuring the continuity of operations in highly complex – and continuously shifting – environments, and more agile contextualized prioritization so that more lives are saved and changed over time as WFP faces increasing humanitarian needs worldwide and decreasing resources.

In these unprecedented times, this core contribution by the ROK Government is crucial, with great flexibility and predictability, for WFP’s emergency responses to not only save lives but also to build resilience and sustainably change lives, whenever and wherever needs are greatest.

“This valuable support from the Government and the people of the Republic of Korea will enable us to reach the most vulnerable communities,” said Abdallah Alwardat, Director of WFP Global Partner Countries Division. “We greatly appreciate ROK’s unwavering commitment to significantly increasing its Official Development Assistance (ODA), which includes a quadrupled increase in core funding to WFP, as it is the best possible type of support to help address the growing needs, allowing us the agility to prioritize and respond with speed. We look forward to strengthening our meaningful and successful partnership with ROK given its leadership and support in addressing not only the acute crises we see today in many parts of the world but also the protracted crises we face.”

ROK shares a long history of close cooperation with WFP dating back to 1964. Between 1964 and 1984, WFP’s food assistance played a crucial role in the development of the ROK, which was recovering from the devastating effects of the Korean War in the 1950s and the big flood in 1963. ROK is one of WFP’s top 10 donors, and ROK contributions are being delivered to the most vulnerable people all around the world, with this year marking the 60th anniversary of WFP’s initial assistance to the ROK and the 40th anniversary of the country’s graduation from WFP’s support.