United Nations agencies and NGO's appeal for urgent assistance for Democratic People's Republic of Korea

United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) today issued a Consolidated Appeal calling for $ 376 million, of which $ 101 million has been pledged, to meet the humanitarian needs of close to 5.5 million vulnerable people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 1999.
The bulk of the assistance required, almost 90 per cent, is for food assistance and the promotion of food security. Projects in the health sector account for approximately 10 per cent, and the remaining amount will support education, capacity-building and coordination activities.

A recent Crop and Food Supply Assessment of domestic cereal production, undertaken jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), confirmed that the country will enter 1999 with a cereal deficit of over one million tonnes. In addition, a nutritional survey recently undertaken by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), WFP and the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) revealed the continuing wasting and stunting of growth among children under the age of seven, and malnutrition rates that are among the highest in the world. Serious nutritional problems were also observed among other vulnerable groups.

Malnutrition weakens immunity to diseases, particularly in the young and the elderly. At the same time, diarrhoeal diseases from poor sanitary conditions contribute to malnutrition, creating a vicious cycle. Food insecurity at the household and national levels has led to foraging for and production of alternative foods, which have little nutritive value and actually contribute to malnutrition in the young and elderly by their high fibre content and indigestibility. After extensive consultations among Pyongyang-based agencies from the UN and non-governmental community, appealing organizations have developed a common humanitarian action plan for 1999. The plan aims at meeting the immediate requirements of food, promoting agricultural rehabilitation, ensuring immediate public health care, providing for educational support concerning food and nutrition, assuring water supplies and sanitation, and supporting national capacity-building.

An early and generous response to this appeal is essential to enable the humanitarian community to respond to the immediate needs of the country and help prevent further deterioration in the nutritional status and health of the vulnerable population.

Copies of the appeal document may be requested from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)/Complex Emergency Response Branch, by e-mail at: erlinda.umali@dha.unicc.org. The document is also available on OCHA's website: http://www.reliefweb.int. For press inquiries, please contact Phyllis Lee (+41-22-917-2113 or 917-1107).