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| Koica President Sohn Hyuk-sang, left, poses with ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana during an MOU-signing ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday. Courtesy of Koica |
By Kang Seung-woo
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Thursday, at the U.N. Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand, on stimulating regional and multilateral cooperation in strengthening the capacity of Asia-Pacific countries for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Koica President Sohn Hyuk-sang and ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana attended the ceremony. The MOU seeks to boost cooperation between the two organizations and support sustainable development and the achievement of the SDGs in the Asia-Pacific region.
This MOU is a renewal of an nonbinding agreement between the two sides signed in February 2019, encompassing areas such as stimulating development related to low carbon and climate resilience through finance and technology, improving gender equality and strengthening the capacity and economic rights of girls and women, and supporting vulnerable groups and promoting inclusive and just societies and strengthening connectivity among ICT, transportation and energy. Cooperation related to monitoring and preventing air pollution has been newly added to the renewed MOU.
The renewed MOU reflects both sides' willingness to cooperate on overcoming air pollution in the Asia-Pacific region. Countries in the region have been experiencing severe air pollution due to slash-and-burn farming and coal-centered development, along with a lack of policy and regulation, resulting in damage to the regional economies and societies.
In response, Koica and ESCAP have been jointly carrying out various environmental projects to respond to climate change and reduce air pollution in the Asia-Pacific region, such as the East Asia Climate Partnership (EACP) established in 2011, the ASEAN climate response program and Building the Pan-Asia Partnership for Geospatial Air Pollution to reduce air pollution by monitoring the air pollution of 13 countries in Asia.
"Low carbon and climate resilience have emerged as global topics. Through this MOU, I hope we are able to better serve the public good that is the shared atmosphere of Asia-Pacific countries, which will provide a safe and clean environment for a wider population," Sohn said.
Alisjahbana said, "U.N. ESCAP and Koica have cooperated in various areas including ICT, statistics and disaster. I hope for continued cooperation projects that combine Korea's technology and U.N. ESCAP's network to overcome crises including COVID-19 and climate change in the Asia-Pacific region."
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