(LEAD) Park launches Korea Aid program for Ethiopia
(ATTN: UPDATES with Park's departure in last para; ADDS new photo)
By Kim Kwang-tae
ADDIS ABABA, May 28 (Yonhap) -- President Park Geun-hye launched South Korea's aid program for Ethiopia on Saturday as part of Seoul's new development cooperation with Africa.
South Korea is pushing for comprehensive cooperation with Africa, which has emerged as a continent of opportunity in recent years.
Park attended the ceremony to kick off the endeavor at Addis Ababa University that drew hundreds of people, including Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome.
The “Korea Aid” program will deploy 10 vehicles, including ambulances, to provide mobile health care and nutritional support to local people, who have a difficult time reaching medical facilities. The effort will also allow locals to experience South Korean culture.
More than 20 South Korean doctors and nurses will join hands with their Ethiopian counterparts to provide basic medical services, especially to girls in medically underserved regions.
Ethiopia is one of the world's poorest countries and has a shortage of doctors. The African country had 0.3 doctor per 10,000 people on average between 2001 and 2013, compared with 13.8 for the world average, according to data provided by the United Nations.
The Korea Aid program is part of the larger Northeast Asian country's cooperation initiative.
Last year, Park unveiled the "Better Life for Girls" initiative at the U.N. summit for sustainable development. The project aims to tackle gender inequality in education and help girls in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique and four other developing countries unlock their full potential. It moreover calls for strengthening health services for girls in those countries.
Under the Korea Aid program, South Korea also plans to provide local and Korean food to underprivileged people to improve their nutrition, and show them 40-minute videos of K-pop music and Korean culture.
The South Korean government said it expects the Korea Aid program to help achieve the sustainable development goals and make sure no country is left behind.
Also on Saturday, Park took part in a South Korea-Ethiopia joint cultural performance at Addis Ababa University before leaving for Uganda, the second stop on her swing through Africa.
entropy@yna.co.kr
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