International Cooperation and Development Fund

Overview

The International Cooperation and Development

Fund (ICDF-TAIWAN) is dedicated to providing

overseas development assistance. The ICDF-

TAIWAN works in tandem with the government and

looks to share Taiwan’s successful development

experience with allies and friendly developing

countries. The assistance, which is designed with the

specific needs of each country in mind, is aimed at

relieving poverty, improving health and creating

wealth in said countries. The ICDF also actively

cooperates with international development

organizations and NGOs.

Medical service is borderless. Through its overseas

medical support mechanism, the ICDF-TAIWAN is

working to raise the medical standards of other

countries and promote health and harmony among the

public. This endeavor is also fulfilling the

responsibility of Taiwan with respect to the global

community. Taiwan’s medical missions not only are

active at the grassroots level, but also provide service

to government officials in the countries where they

are stationed. In doing so, they build trust and

friendship, increase mutual understanding and

cultivate better relationships, paving the way for long

term friendly ties.

The following is a brief description of the various

projects, highlighting medical- and health-related

work, which the ICDF-TAIWAN provides to its

partner nations.

Investment and Lending

The ICDF provides loans as well as grants to assist

the international community in projects that boost the

level of medical care and public health. Some of its

examples include:

● The ICDF-TAIWAN assisted Guatemala in

establishing seven medical stations and in

providing much-needed medical equipment such as

stretchers, diagnostic tools, and medicine cabinets.

● Emergency Regional Support to Address the

Outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

(SARS): Since the SARS outbreak severely

impacted the economic and political environmental

of many Asian countries, the Asian Development

Bank (ADB) invited the ICDF-TAIWAN to share

Taiwan’s successful experience in containing

SARS. The ICDF-TAIWAN assistance helped

ADB member countries take preventative measures

against SARS and strengthened their public health

systems.

Taiwan’s International Health Cooperation Programs

Free clinical services are offered by a TaiwanYouth Overseas Serviceman in Burkina Faso.

Women and children wait to receive treatmentfrom the ICDF-TAIWAN Medical Mission.

International Cooperation and Development Fund

Medical Missions

Medical missions provide medical diagnosis services

at hospitals in the countries where they are stationed.

They provide clinical instruction and train local

doctors and nurses in an effort to raise the quality of

medical services in the host country. To meet local

health needs, mission members visit remote places

each year to provide free medical services. Mission

members also teach basic health and sanitation

concepts with the hope of improving overall living

conditions. Taiwan presently has four medical

missions stationed in Africa (Burkina Faso, Chad,

Malawi, and São Tomé and Príncipe) staffed with 21

doctors and medical specialists.

Technical Cooperation

The ICDF-TAIWAN provides technical assistance to

assist the international community in strengthening

levels of medical care and addressing public health

issues. Some of the examples are:

● The Eastern Caribbean Medical Equipment

Improvement Project: This project is aimed at

raising the level of grassroots medical care in

Eastern Caribbean nations. It is hoped that the

quality of community medical care in these nations

will be quickly improved.

● São Tomé and Príncipe Malaria Eradication Project:

Malaria is still one of the top ten causes of death in

São Tomé and Príncipe. The ICDF-TAIWAN is

utilizing Taiwan’s successful experience in

controlling malaria with the hope of helping that

country become a malaria-free area. The project

also aims to gradually help São Tomé and Príncipe

improve its overall health care system.

Taiwan Overseas Volunteers Program

The Taiwan Overseas Volunteers Program provides

specialized knowledge and skills to countries that ask

for such assistance. This helps promote social and

economic development in the host country. As of

March 2004, the ICDF has stationed 16 volunteers for

health-related service in Costa Rica, Panama, São

Tomé and Príncipe, and Nicaragua.

Taiwan Youth Overseas Service

Taiwan initiated the Youth Overseas Service program

in 2001 to provide men with an opportunity to expand

their international horizons and to help Taiwan boost

its international image. In the three years since the

initiation of the program, 112 men have been sent to

over 20 countries in Africa, Latin America, the

Caribbean and the Asia-Pacific. Of these, 20 have

provided medical-related services in Burkina Faso,

Chad, Malawi, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

A child falls asleep peacefully after being treated by the ICDF-TAIWAN Medical Mission in Burkina Faso.

A surgical team at the ICDF-TAIWAN Medical Mission in Chad.

International Cooperation and Development Fund

Humanitarian Assistance

The ICDF’s humanitarian assistance operations focus

on providing emergency disaster relief, care and

reconstruction assistance to diplomatic allies and

friendly countries. In addition, grassroots medical,

sanitation, nutritional, and poverty relief assistance is

provided to allies and friendly countries based on

need.

In the past, the ICDF provided yellow fever vaccines,

as well as vaccine cold transport and storage

equipment to Senegal and The Gambia. ICDF has also

cooperated with the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corp

in providing free medical clinics to The Gambia, the

Philippines, and Sri Lanka, and to Tibetan refugees in

Northern India.

In recent years, the ICDF-TAIWAN has strengthened

medical and public health humanitarian assistance

around the world. In particular, it has sought to raise

the quality of health care at the grassroots level.

Examples include providing medical assistance to

ethnic Chinese refugee villages in Northern Thailand,

cooperating with the Tibetan Refugee Self-Help

Center and Taiwanese NGOs to provide medical

assistance for Tibetan refugees in India, providing

medical assistance in the Altai area of Russia, and

supplying grassroots medical humanitarian assistance

in Mongolia’s South Gobi province. Mobile hospitals

are used in all of these cases to boost medical care. In

addition, the ICDF-TAIWAN and the Tibetan Refugee

Self-Help Center cooperate on improving basic

medical equipment. The ICDF-TAIWAN has also

cooperated with the Noordhoff Craniofacial

Foundation to bring a youngster from Africa to

Taiwan for medical care. The ICDF-TAIWAN has

also donated medicine to treat roundworm in

Paraguay, hoping to improve the health of the

underprivileged in that nation.

At the present time, the ICDF-TAIWAN is

cooperating with Mercy Corps on a program to

provide health and sanitation education and improve

grassroots facilities in the Ferghana Valley of

Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrzikstan.

International Human ResourceTraining

The ICDF’s international human resource training

operations aim to assist allies and friendly countries to

nurture the required human resources to support

economic and social development. The ICDF-

TAIWAN fully realizes that helping to nurture talent is

a fundamental requirement supporting long-term

development. In 1999, it held a public health

workshop in which health officials from friendly

developing countries were familiarized with Taiwan’s

experience and measures in public health. A total of

25 officials from Fiji, Burkina Faso, and El Salvador

Volunteer Yu Chin-mei assists Costa Rican medicalworkers with their work.

The ICDF-TAIWAN Medical Mission in São Tomé andPríncipe holds free clinical services for local people.

International Cooperation and Development Fund

came to Taiwan for the training course. Starting in

2003, the ICDF-TAIWAN began the Graduate and

Postgraduate Scholarship Programs -- Master of

Science Program in International Health. This shares

Taiwan’s success in public health development with

the international community and provides more

opportunities for international medical technology

cooperation and exchanges. Presently, four students,

from Malawi, Swaziland, Burkina Faso and Honduras,

are taking the coursework in Taiwan.

Programs Open for Applications

● Medical Training and Research Fellowships

● International Public Health Seminars

● Assistance in Medical Equipment

and Pharmaceuticals

● Assistance in Community Health Management

● Overseas Medical Missions and Clinics

● Youth Overseas Services

Also please contact the nearest Taiwan Embassyor Representative Office:

Staff members provide medical services to Tibetan refugeesat the ICDF-donated Mobile Diagnostic Clinic and ResearchCenter (left).

For further information please contact: ICDF-TAIWAN

14F, NO. 9, Lane 62, Tien Mou West Rd.

Taipei, Taiwan, 111

Telephone+ 886 (2) 2873-2323 ext.300, 305

Fax+886 (2) 2876-6475, 2876-6570

E-mail: service@icdf.org.tw

http://www.icdf.org.tw