The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has organized a workshop on KOICA Volunteers Program (KOV) for its Partner Organizations on October 21, 2016 in Kathmandu.

This workshop aimed to review and evaluate KOICA’s volunteer program with sharing and exchanging the best practices and creative ideas to improve volunteer program in Nepal among volunteer-related organizations. This meeting further provided a platform to discuss various issues surrounding the initial role of recipient organization for adjustment of volunteers when they are newly dispatched in the organization.  About 40 participants from different parts of the country got a glance at the overall KOICA’s program and volunteer activities in Nepal. 

In the program Lal Bahadur Khatri, Under Secretary of IECCD, Ministry of Finance said that the role of KOVs is growing in Nepal and Korea is one of the important partner countries in dispatching Volunteers in the field of education, health, agriculture and Information and Communication Technology. Hyungkyoo Kim, Country Director of KOICA Nepal Office emphasized on the importance of cooperation from recipient organization in order to strengthen the KOICA Volunteer program in Nepal.

According to a press release issued by KOICA Nepal Office, KOICA Volunteer Program is one of the main pillars of the KOICA programs. KOICA volunteer program aims to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development, to promote friendly relations between Korea and host countries. Until now under KOV Program KOICA has dispatched about 8,000 KOVs in 61 different countries in the world.

KOICA Volunteer program started in Nepal in 1990. Since then KOICA Volunteers are deployed in various governmental organizations within and outside the Kathmandu valley according to the demands and request from Nepalese government. These KOICA volunteers are from various backgrounds like Health, Education, Agriculture, Social Welfare, Environment, IT, etc. 

Volunteer program is an important aspect of KOICA’s cooperation program in Nepal which supports the transfer of Korean knowledge, expertise and technology directly in the grass root level. As of now there are total 31 volunteers who are actively working in various sectors. Since 1990 KOICA has dispatched about 411 volunteers to Nepal.  KOICA is committed in increasing the numbers of volunteers in Nepal.