The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on projects that provide assistance to disadvantaged groups, especially children, in Africa, as well as India and other countries.

One of the projects, which involves digging wells, building water tanks and promoting water safety awareness in India, is expected to provide cleaner water and reduce the number of local residents who fall ill from drinking contaminated water, the ministry said in a news release last week.

The project is to be carried out with Good Neighbors Taiwan, which was established in July last year to support vulnerable children and high-risk families in developing countries, it said.

Another project, in cooperation with the Pu-Hsein Educational Foundation and Amitofo Care Center African Executive Association, is to help African orphans learn Chinese to enhance their competitiveness as adults, the ministry said.

The education program by the two Buddhist charity organizations, which began in 2013, has benefited more than 9,000 African children and youths, it said.

The program involves sending instructors to teach traditional Chinese characters and the Chinese language in seven schools that shelter orphans in Eswatini, Malawi, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique and Madagascar, it added.

The ministry said that it would also help the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation-Taiwan, which is dedicated to helping people with cleft lip and palate and craniofacial deformity, in its project with the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital system.

The project involves holding international conferences and training medical personnel from other nations, it said.

Other cooperation projects include a Taiwan-Vietnam education project with the Zhi-Shan Foundation Taiwan, which promotes academic exchanges, and a young women’s empowerment project with the Garden of Hope Foundation, which is focused on organizing training camps for young women and hosting the annual Asian Girl Awards that highlight the achievements of girls, the ministry said.

Department of NGO International Affairs Director-General Scott Lai on March 27 signed cooperation agreements with the NGOs at the ministry’s headquarters in Taipei, praising Taiwan’s NGO sector for its active international participation and vowing to continue supporting such groups to increase Taiwan’s international visibility.