Under a white tent set up in the middle of an internally displaced persons camp, women speak softly, some with children on their laps. Here in the Mopti region, these spaces are more than a refuge — they are a symbol of resilience and renewal.
In Mali, KOICA – the Korea International Cooperation Agency – supports UNFPA in providing psychosocial and medical assistance to people displaced by insecurity. To date, 471 women and girls have benefited from this support in safe spaces where voices are heard, trauma is addressed, and healing becomes possible.
Just a few kilometers away, another facet of the KOICA–UNFPA partnership is giving new hope to women suffering from obstetric fistula, a traumatic birth injury caused by obstructed labour. Fatoumata Karembé will never forget the day she was admitted and operated on in Mopti after years of living with an untreated fistula, a condition that often results in pain, incontinence, infections and social isolation. “The teams from KOICA and UNFPA saved my life and restored my dignity,” she says with emotion.
KOICA’s current funding to UNFPA in Mali for the period 2024–2027 amounts to $3.5 million. This support enables the implementation of the “Programme to provide Life-saving and Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health and Gender-Based Violence Services in Africa”, which operates in Mali's Ségou and Mopti regions.
Further south, in the Central African Republic, KOICA also funds a UNFPA programme that connects health, peace and youth. In a country weakened by years of conflict, this initiative supports violence prevention, promotes inter-community dialogue and encourages the active participation of young people in peacebuilding. The goal: for every woman and every adolescent not only to survive, but to live in dignity and safety.
These various interventions demonstrate that KOICA is a key partner of UNFPA in West and Central Africa. Its support enables reproductive health programmes and efforts to combat maternal mortality and gender-based violence across the region.
A lasting partnership focused on the future
Cooperation between the Republic of Korea and UNFPA dates back to 1974, when the UN agency supported Korea’s first family planning policies. Five decades later, the country—now a donor—shares its experience and solidarity with some of the most vulnerable regions of the world.
Across West and Central Africa, from 2024 to 2025, KOICA is providing more than$10 million to support UNFPA programmes in six countries – Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Mali – as part of KOICA-UNFPA’s Conflict-affected and Fragile countries supporting Programme.
This contribution will significantly advance UNFPA’s transformative goals: to end preventable maternal deaths, to end gender-based violence, and to end unmet need for family planning. And, beyond the numbers, this is a model of human and sustainable cooperation, where Korean experience helps build societies that are safer, healthier and more equitable.
Even so, the West and Central Africa region continues to face severe challenges in sexual and reproductive health. The humanitarian context remains fragile, with persistent threats to marginalized and crisis-affected populations.
