Press statement by Kenzo Oshima, USG for Humanitarian Affairs on his visit to the DPR Korea

I have just completed a five-day mission to the DPRK accompanied by senior representatives of the two leading humanitarian agencies in DPRK, Mr. John Powell, the World Food Programme's Director for Asia and Mr. Richard Bridle, UNICEF's Representative in Pyongyang.

While in the DPRK, I held talks with the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Choi Su Hon, my main interlocutor, the Minister of Agriculture, and the Vice Ministers for Public Health and City Management, among other senior government officials. I also called on President Kim Yong Nam. I undertook a field trip to Kangwon Province on the east coast where I visited a county hospital and children's ward, an orphanage and a children's home where UN assistance is provided and I also paid a visit to some Korean homes and talked to some of the local community. I also visited a number of projects being implemented by the UN, the Red Cross and other actors.

The objectives of my mission were essentially two: to review the humanitarian situation in the country and to continue the constructive dialogue with the authorities which the United Nations has pursued since the inception of humanitarian assistance programming in 1995. Secondly, to encourage donors to support the strategy outlined in the UN Consolidated Appeal, namely to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of the people of the DPRK--particularly the continuing need for food, healthcare and safe water and support to agricultural rehabilitation.

Over the past years, the United Nations, NGOs and the Red Cross movement have been assisting between 6-8 million vulnerable people - especially children, pregnant women and nursing mothers-and we have made a positive contribution to saving lives and alleviating the suffering associated with chronic food shortages. This year, the United Nations has sought $258 million for these activities through the Consolidated Appeal. However, the Mid-term Review of the Appeal has confirmed donor "fatigue" and we are short of our resource mobilization target.

Alarmed by this, I went to the media at the end of April with Carol Bellamy of UNICEF and Jim Morris of WFP to express our concern at the slow-down in funding. A number of donors responded positively. Even so, without additional contributions, WFP will no longer be able to provide food assistance to large numbers of hungry people after September.

In this context, in order to get further funding, a number of conditions have to be met by the North Koreans. During my visit, I held discussions with officials on the important issues of the extension of access to beneficiaries in areas where this is presently denied, on improving the monitoring of the delivery of the humanitarian assistance provided, and on bettering the working environment and conditions for UN agencies and their partners. I am pleased to report some tangible progress in a number of areas. Firstly, the government has agreed for the first time to allow satellite communications for the UN in Pyongyang and its sub-offices-this will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our work. Secondly, the government has agreed to coordinate with the UN on the emergency medical evacuation of international personnel by air-this will go a long way to meeting our concerns for staff safety, especially in isolated areas outside the capital. Lastly, I received the government's unequivocal commitment to conduct a nutritional survey jointly with UNICEF and WFP later this year to follow-up on the survey carried out in 1998--this exercise is crucial both to determining the impact of international food aid and by refining what we know about the hungriest and where they are in order to better target our future assistance.

With respect to the issues of access and monitoring, we would like to acknowledge that, over the years, much progress has been made in a number of areas. For example, 163 out of 206 of the DPK's counties are accessible to humanitarian operations. This is a dramatic change compared to where we were in 1995. But still, much more needs to be done to bring operational standards in the DPRK up to the level that we operate in other countries. We still do not have any access to 43 counties. We need to be allowed to engage in more spontaneous monitoring; to visit institutions and Public Distribution Centers more randomly and without the need for lengthy pre-notification and planning procedures. I have told the government that without these operational requirements, we may not be in a position to convince donors to continue to meet the level of support needed for our assistance to the DPRK, especially this year given other pressing demands in other parts of the world.

The relief operation in the DPRK has been underway for seven years now and we have seen progress in alleviating the acute malnourishment and under-nourishment seen in the mid-1990s - i.e. the food appears to be getting to where it is intended. However, many of the problems faced by the DPRK can only be mitigated in the medium and long-term by efforts by modernizing and revitalizing the national economy. We need an "exit strategy" and an enabling environment in order for the United Nations and the DPRK Government to work together to complement humanitarian assistance with more programming aimed at sustainable development.

Finally, I sought the views of DPRK officials on the recent changes to the government's policies on wages and prices. While it is too soon to make an evaluation of the impact on improvements in economic performance, I believe this move is a recognition by the DPRK authorities of the economic condition the country finds itself in and the need for reform. In that sense, the change itself is a step in the right direction.

In conclusion, I found that the humanitarian situation in the DPRK still remains precarious. Continued support from the international community will be required, not only on humanitarian grounds, but also for the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and in the region.

I wish to commend the excellent work undertaken by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. David Morton, during his four-year term in the country. I also welcome Mr. Morton's replacement, Mr. Masood Hyder, formerly WFP Representative in Sudan, and wish him well in his challenging new assignment in Pyongyang.

From Beijing I will travel to Seoul and then to Japan in order to confer with the respective governments on my mission.

Thank you.

My colleagues and I would now be happy to take your questions.

Beijing, 5 August 2002