S. Korea donates rice for use by impoverished communities

The Republic of Korea on Friday donated 1,314 tons of rice for distribution to 100,000 people across the country.
The donation will help people in times of hardship, as everyone feels the crunch of straitened financial circumstances and food shortages.
Korea continues to donate rice for distribution to the most vulnerable populations.

A rice handover ceremony at the World Food Programme warehouse in Vientiane on Friday.

For the second year in a row, a consignment of rice, worth about US$1.26 million, has arrived at the warehouse in Vientiane for use by impoverished people in Laos.
Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Mr Yung Soo Jung, handed over the rice donation to the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Mrs Baykham Khattiya, at the United Nations World Food Programme’s (WFP) warehouse in Vientiane.
Laos, already challenged by high malnutrition rates, is particularly vulnerable to socio-economic shocks and to the effects of climate change, including floods and droughts, which cause losses of harvests and livelihoods.
The donation will be used to pilot a national emergency rice reserve for improved targeting of vulnerable populations in times of food shortages, as well as to provide emergency rice rations to disadvantaged children in ethnic boarding schools and schools for persons with disabilities.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Mrs Baykham said the donation from the Republic of Korea will continue to benefit those in remote areas where natural disasters are most likely, as well as some of the most disadvantaged young people in the country.
Ambassador Jung said the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has provided emergency rice to countries through the World Food Programme since 2018.
“Laos has been a beneficiary of this support since 2021, and we are very keen to keep strengthening food security with our support, which is in line with our Republic’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and our focus on solidarity between Korea and Asean countries,” he said.
WFP Country Director and Representative Mr Jan Delbaere said “We value the expanding relationship we have with the Republic of Korea, which is swiftly becoming one of our most important donors. With Korean rice, WFP was able to provide emergency food assistance to help 10,091 people in Xayaboury province recover from the impacts of tropical storm Koguma in 2021, and to top up school meals food rations for 84,000 schoolchildren, strengthening the government’s School Meals Programme.
This year’s rice donation will again be strategically allocated to help the populations most in need around the country.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update January 16, 2023)