The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) on Friday held a conference for host organisations in Laos on improving the World Friends Korea (WFK) volunteer programme.
KOICA arranged the conference on its volunteer programme in Laos for 40 local participants from partner organisations including schools, provincial planning and investment and health departments as well as the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
The conference aimed to review and evaluate KOICA’s volunteer programme with volunteer-related organisations and enhance effectiveness by sharing the best practices and creative ideas of the WFK volunteer programme, according to a press statement from the KOICA Lao PDR Office.
This meeting provided a platform to discuss various issues to promote better policies and effective implementation of the volunteer mobilisation policy. Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Laos, Mr Yun Kang-Hyeon, emphasised the importance of cooperation between Laos and the Republic of Korea in his opening remarks.
It is expected the relationship between both countries will be closer through the WFK volunteer programme. And this meeting will help participants gain mutual understanding to achieve goals, he said.
The WFK volunteer programme is designed by KOICA to make practical contributions to socio-economic and human resource development in 44 partner countries through dispatching qualified Korean volunteers as well as sharing expertise, knowledge, and experiences.
Since Laos and Korea agreed upon the WFK volunteer programme in 2000, some 360 WFK volunteers have accomplished humanitarian missions in the significant fields of healthcare, computer education, tourism and nursing for a period of two years. Currently 56 WFK volunteers are working in nine provinces of Laos. In 2009, the Korean government consolidated overseas volunteer programmes provided by six different government agencies into a single brand. This government initiative gave birth to World Friends Korea, Korean integrated overseas volunteer programmes. As Korea’s iconic participatory development cooperation programme, World Friends Korea has deployed 20,000 overseas volunteers to partner countries from 2009 to 2014.
Currently, World Friends Korea is operating a wide range of volunteer programmes to engage high school graduates to retirees.
Source: Vientiane Times
