1. The government of the Republic of Korea has decided to provide Honduras and Guatemala with 300,000 and 250,000 US dollars, respectively, in humanitarian assistance to tackle their humanitarian crises triggered by climate change.

◦ In Honduras, the worst drought in 50 years has left 80-100% of crops lost, thousands of livestock dead and about 13 million people -- about 15% of the country’s total population -- short of food. Meanwhile, in Guatemala, not only droughts but also floods and landslides have occurred one after another, taking a toll on human life and destroying infrastructure.

◦ In response, the UN has set “Emergency Response Plans” for Honduras and Guatemala and asked the international community to provide a total of 37 million US dollars in assistance.

2. So far in 2015, the ROK government has provided nine countries with a combined 2.1 million US dollars in humanitarian assistance for tackling climate change. The aid to Honduras and Guatemala will bring the total amount of the ROK’s assistance to 2.65 million US dollars.

3. Going forward, the ROK government plans to actively implement humanitarian diplomacy, while making efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to those affected by not only prolonged conflicts, such as in Syria and Iraq, but also disasters caused by climate change.


* unofficial translation