Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the UNFPA, and the UNFPA delegation visited Seoul, the Republic of Korea (ROK), on March 6th as a part of the UNFPA mission to strengthen mutual cooperation with the Korean government and its key stakeholders, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), and the Korean Parliament League on Children, Population, Environment of the National Assembly.

Dr. Natalia Kanem met with President Won Sam Chang of KOICA to appreciate the establishment of the new humanitarian framework between KOICA and UNFPA by signing a MOU on the monumental $32.7 million multi-year support on conflict-affected and fragile countries. The new Framework will support six countries in the African Region and the Middle East: the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, Lebanon, and Palestine, allowing nearly 700,000 women and girls access life-saving sexual and reproductive health services. The ED and the President of KOICA further exchanged positive affirmations to strengthen the HDP nexus and its Korea Multilateral Cooperation Officers (KMCOs) engagement to contribute to effective programme implementation especially in humanitarian settings.

During the UNFPA delegation’s mission in Seoul, Dr. Kanem engaged in fruitful discussions with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Mr. Won Doyeon, the Director-General for Development Cooperation of MOFA, by highlighting UNFPA’s commitment to expanding cooperation with the ROK whilst commending MOFA’s commitment to multilateralism as “Global Pivotal State.” As the ROK currently faces new demographic challenges due to low fertility rates and the ageing population, Dr. Kanem pledged UNFPA support for promoting rights-based and data-driven demographic policies and youth engagement, which the Foreign Minister responded with great enthusiasm by promising high-level participation in Global Dialogues and youth development.

The UNFPA delegation’s meeting with President of the Korean Parliamentary League on Children, Population, and Environment (CPE) MP Lee In-young reaffirmed the two agencies’ commitment to the UNFPA mandate as well as commemorating the achievements put forward by the CPE in terms of promoting gender equality and SRHR. The two leaders promised strengthening parliamentarian networks and support for the UNFPA-ROK partnership and global dialogues, exchanging positive outlooks on the Korean Parliament’s participation in the 2024 SWOP and various networking events supporting the ICPD Programme of Action.

Dr. Kanem presented the UNFPA’s mission of youth empowerment through a meeting with current and former interns of the Seoul Representation Office. She voiced her appreciation at the power of young people promoting the values of SDG Goal 3 on health, Goal 4 on education, and Goal 5 on gender equality. Moreover, Dr. Kanem discussed with the youths the status quo and potential solutions to Korea’s low fertility, and received their feedback regarding various ongoing UNFPA initiatives. Finally, she reaffirmed the UNFPA’s belief in youth power, and provided her assurance that young people have a voice in the UNFPA at all levels through different platforms.