Korean Advocates for Global Health and K-Bio Deliver Malaria Elimination Proposals to MOFA

South Korea hosted the inaugural Korea-Africa Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Seoul from May 31 to June 2, 2026. Following the historic 2024 Korea-Africa Summit, this meeting gathered delegates from 50 African nations and four regional organisations to pave the way for the next full summit, which is targeted for 2029. This engagement reflects growing momentum to translate Korea’s global health leadership into concrete, country level impact across Africa.

In 2024, Global Fund Advocates Network Asia-Pacific (GFAN AP) supported the development of the statement developed in 2024 ahead of the first Korea-Africa Summit in 2024 and organised a sign on to support the Korea-Africa Summit Health CSO Recommendations, which collected over 300 signatories.

On 26 May, Korean Advocates for Global Health (KAGH) convened an official policy handover ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), marking a timely contribution ahead of the upcoming Korea-Africa Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

Ahead of the Korea-Africa Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, GFAN AP led and supported the development of the policy statement “Advancing Malaria Elimination as a Global Health Security Priority through Korea-Africa Partnership” together with KAGH supported by Civil Society for Malaria Elimination (CS4ME), CSO Platform, Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN), GFAN Africa and Unitaid Advocates Network (UAN) which was incorporated within the policy pack.

KAGH formally presented its policy proposal to Ms. Eui-hae Chung, Deputy Minister of Political Affairs, in a meeting that brought together key officials from MOFA’s African and Middle Eastern Affairs Bureau and the Development Cooperation Bureau (ODA Division). The discussion moved beyond broad principles, focusing on practical pathways for implementation and inter-agency coordination.

Deputy Minister Chung expressed her sincere gratitude to civil society and K-bio partners for bringing forward such a timely and technically expertise-driven policy alternative and emphasised, “We will review this with special attention to ensure Korea’s excellent technologies and products are effectively utilised on the ground to make a tangible contribution to malaria elimination“. Furthermore, she committed to immediate inter-agency follow-up, stating that “We will share this proposal with relevant government ministries right away and deeply contemplate how to design a multi-dimensional African diplomacy that goes hand-in-hand with civil society“.

This policy handover is closely aligned with the vision and commitments of the 1st Korea-Africa Summit, where Korea pledged to deepen partnerships based on mutual growth, sustainable development and shared responsibility. Health security and disease elimination – especially malaria – are central to this agenda.

As Korea moves from summit-level commitments to implementation, partnerships like this will be critical. The policy handover represent more than a single event – it is a model of how civil society can help shape actionable, evidence-based policies that support Africa’s health priorities while strengthening Korea’s role as a responsible global health partner.

With continued collaboration, Korea’s engagement in Africa has the potential to deliver not only innovation, but impact – accelerating progress toward malaria elimination and broader health equity across the continent and beyond.