By Daniel Etchells

Kim Young-mok (left), President of the KOICA, holds a Memorandum of Understanding with Sir Philip Craven (right), President of the IPC ©KOICAA Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in an effort to nurture talented young people with disabilities and raise public awareness of disability sport. 


IPC President Sir Philip Craven and KOICA President Kim Young-mok attended a signing ceremony, along with other officials, at the KOICA headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

KOICA said it will utilise know-how accumulated from previous projects and cooperate with the IPC to dispatch personnel that specialise in disability issues to underdeveloped countries.

"We will support the development of various sports programmes for disabled people in developing countries to help them participate in social activities," stated KOICA.

"We will also work hard to improve their human rights, as well as push for active sports interchanges with South Korea."

The South Korean city of Incheon hosted the 2014 Asian Para Games earlier this month ©Incheon 2014The South Korean city of Incheon hosted the 2014 Asian Para Games earlier this month ©Incheon 2014



The institute claims it has spent KRW19 billion (£11 million/$18 million/€14.2 million) over the past five years on supporting people with disabilities and they expect this budget to gradually increase, especially as South Korean city Pyeongchang is due to host the 2018 Winter Paralympics. 

KOICA added that it has constantly carried out various projects of official development assistance (ODA), including the construction of special-education schools and rehabilitation hospitals.

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