Seoul, Korea, April 16, 2009 - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and LG Electronics (LG) today announced a multi-year partnership to fight poverty and hunger in the drought-afflicted Horn of Africa region.
Under the banner of a Partnership of Hope, LG pledged one billion Korean won (US$760,000) per year for three years in support of WFP’s projects to alleviate hunger in Kenya and Ethiopia. It is the first public-private partnership where a private Korean company has made a sizeable donation to support development projects in Africa. The projects will target some 23,000 of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the Nairobi slums of Kenya and in remote rural areas of Ethiopia.
"This agreement marks WFP’s first large-scale multi-year corporate donation from Asia to Africa,” remarked Monica Marshall, Head of Global Private Partnerships at WFP. “We are honored to cross this milestone with LG Electronics. This help for Kenya and Ethiopia could not have come at better time, considering the gravity of the food crisis in the Horn of Africa region today.”
LG and the WFP signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) earlier today at the Korean company’s headquarters in Seoul in the presence of executives from both organizations. Korean celebrity and WFP National Ambassador against Hunger Jang Dong-gun also attended the MOU signing.
“As a global company, LG Electronics will not turn a blind eye to abject poverty and environmental degradation,” said Mr. Young-kee Kim, Executive Vice President of LGE. “These two issues are closely linked, and it is only through more responsible behavior that they can both be overcome. Today, we are pledging our commitment as a global citizen to help build a foundation for self-sufficiency in one of the neediest parts of the world.”
The Horn of Africa region has suffered a series of phenomena in recent years that have plunged millions of people into even further poverty and hunger. Already affected by various factors such as high food prices, civil unrest and drought, residents of the region are now also feeling the toll of the global financial crisis. The WFP-LGE program will support the efforts to mitigate poverty in rural Ethiopia by providing agricultural support, rations for rural villagers engaged in environmental projects and meals for schoolchildren. In Kenya, the partnership will provide free meals to students, food and nutrition assistance for AIDS orphans, and other vulnerable HIV affected children and food support for children under 5 years old.
