From its own development experience, Korea came to fully understand the critical importance of HRD, and it is given high priority in Korea's development cooperation with other developing countries. With much experience and know-how in HRD, Korea can contribute greatly to the international community by sharing its unique development experience.

In the center of this, KOICA has supported a variety of international cooperation programs for HRD, with the nucleus being project-type aid focused on education and vocational training, intended to build a foundation for HRD. Nothing illustrates this better than the fact that KOICA has supported approximately 62 projects for the establishment of vocational training institutes, and both elementary and high schools in developing countries.

The Invitation of Trainees, and the Dispatch of Experts programs help developing countries build administrative and technical expertise in both the public sector and in the industry. In order to share experience and knowledge at the grass roots level, KOICA dispatches Korea Overseas Volunteers (KOVs) to render services in the fields of education, regional development, computers, health care and nursing, and Korean language instruction. A total of 1,092 KOVs have been dispatched to 33 countries thus far.

Of all KOICA's HRD programs, the Invitation of Trainees program, in which invitees learn first-hand about Korea's development experience, enabling them to apply it directly after returning home, has produced perhaps the most noteworthy results and garnered the most favorable reputation. From 1991 to 2001, KOICA offered 818 training courses in areas including; administration, economics, science & technology, telecommunications, agriculture, forestry & fishery, and health care, to a total of 14,283 trainees from some 154 countries.

To meet ever-growing and ever-changing needs, KOICA makes every effort to further improve its HRD program raising the overall effective level of the cooperation programs and the consequent rewards. Of late, KOICA is paying even greater attention to the promotion of cooperation in information technology and knowledge- based industries in addition to the traditional areas of training.

Korea was one of the beneficiaries of United Nation Development Program(UNDP), and we are now hosting UNDP projects. As a member of world society, we, Korean, consider the hosting this program as our responsibility. And this program is not only a learning process but also a chance to improve mutual understanding between Korea and participating countries.

According as use of chemical compounds was increased, environmental contamination has been serious problems. Of all the pollutants released into environment by human activity, the most dangerous compounds are POPs. In 1997, UNEP defined 12 chemicals as POPs, and started activity to control and manage for POPs. In 2001, the Stockholm Convention set out control measures covering the producing, importing, exporting, and the use of POPs, also governments agreed to minimize and eliminate POPs.

In many governments, many activities have been undertaken to identify the contamination source, perform monitoring of contamination level, and research of available technologies for replacing existing POPs. But, developing countries do not perform actively due to lack of fund and related technologies.

This training on POPs is therefore timely and very necessary to protect human health and environment of developing countries, and to join international movement on POPs.