The country director of the World Food Program in Afghanistan, Claude Jibidar, visited Korea this week to express appreciation and rally continuing support for humanitarian and food relief programs.

During his four-day visit ― from Tuesday to Friday ― Jibidar met officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korea International Cooperation Agency and the National Assembly, and updated them on the operational progress.

He also attended a photo exhibition titled “Our vision for zero hunger” at the National Assembly, which highlighted the Korean government’s assistance to WFP operations in 20 countries around the world. 

The WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian relief agency fighting hunger and saves lives, helping over 80 million people in over 80 countries. The Korean government has supported the organization’s initiatives in Afghanistan since 2013, which are set to end next year.

The aid from Korea is mostly concentrated in the northeastern provinces of Takhar and Badakshan, and includes: schemes producing soya-reinforced wheat power, which helped over 30,000 farmers and 200,000 people; irrigation canal programs designed to utilize crop fields that aided some 4,000 people; and the “purchase for progress” program that buys agricultural produce from local farmers and sells it through the community market, benefiting more than 210,000.

Thanks to the partnership with Korea, many internally displaced persons out of the total of some 800,000 across Afghanistan have returned to their hometowns, Jibidar said.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)