South Korea pledged to send a total of US$2.3 million in humanitarian assistance to the Horn of Africa to help tackle the region's protracted drought and food crisis, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.
Kim Sang-jin, deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, announced the new funding plan at a U.N. conference held Wednesday in New York, and offered to contribute another $18.4 million of rice assistance to Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.
"As a responsible member of the international community, we will actively participate in the global community's efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa," the ministry said in a press release.
According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least $7 billion is needed this year to assist millions of people in the region suffering from drought, displacement and food insecurity.
Source: Yonhap News Agency