Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the project “Improving Maternal and Child Health Care in Mugu”. The MOU was signed by Choe Yong-jin, Korean Ambassador to Nepal and Suman Prasad Sharma, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance on March 24, 2015 at the Ministry of Finance.

According to a press release issued by KOICA, Korean Government will support total of US$ 5 million for this project for around 60 months. The project’s main goal is to support the national initiative of the Ministry of Health and Population to improve maternal and neonatal health care status, especially of the poor and marginalized region.

KOICA(Korea International Cooperation Agency), as an implementing agency on behalf of Korean Government, will hold various activities to build the capacity of caregivers, parents, families and communities to make informed decisions to improve maternal and child health and hygiene in Mugu district. At the same time, KOICA also plans to strengthen the capacity of public health system to provide quality and equitable maternal health services in project site.

Not only the health programs for community people, KOICA will provide technical support to develop and implement the master plan of the District Health Office which is to be designed for the improvement of public health service. Also KOICA is planning to renovate the current district hospital buildings and provide some equipment and materials which are necessary for the quality health care service delivery.

During the signing ceremony Korean Ambassador to Nepal Choe Yong-jin stated that improving the quality of health care services in Mugu is important from humanitarian prospective. He expressed his hope that joint efforts of two governments can ultimately create change in Mugu. In the program, Finance Secretary  Sharma expressed full commitment from the GoN side for successful implementation of the project.

“Health is one of priority sectors of KOICA Nepal, and it has been working in health sector with different modality of technical and developmental assistance since 1996. At present, KOICA is working in Tikapur, Kailali, for the Health Services Improvement, and another project for National Health Insurance Support Project (NHISP) in close cooperation with MOHP as well as other external development partners. In addition, currently 27 KOICA volunteers with health background including 1 medical doctor and 2 surgeons are working in Nepal,” said press release.