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DPRK: Joint Review Mission to Flood-Affected Areas in North Hamgyong, 18 – 23 November 2016

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UN RC DPRK
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Background

The remnants of Typhoon Lionrock passed over North Hamgyong on 31 August-1 September 2016, where it merged with a low pressure front leading to a deluge of rains and eventually an overflow of the Tumen river. Counties located along the river were particularly badly hit. An estimated 600,000 people Hoeryong City, Kyonghung, Kyongwon, Musan, Onsong and Yonsa counties were affected by the floods,including 140,000 severely affected people. Around 30,000 houses were damaged and over 27,000 hectares of agricultural land submerged. Almost 70,000 people were displaced and essential services seriously disrupted.

The flooding in North Hamgyong has been described as the largest natural disaster to befall northern DPRK since 1945 and was declared a national emergency of highest priority. Some 370,000 people were mobilized to support the response and responsibility for the coordination of the relief effort was delegated to the Office of the Premier and the Vice Premier dispatched to the North to personally oversee the work.

Representatives of the National Coordinating Committee (NCC) and the DPRK Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) conducted a joint assessment mission to the worst affected areas from 6 to 9 September 2016. Following the assessment, humanitarian agencies in the country developed a Flood Emergency Response Plan (ERP) which was released on 19 September 2016 requesting USD 29 M for the response. An IFRC appeal worth USD 15,5 M was released on 20 September 2016. The Emergency Relief Coordinator also approved a Rapid Response grant from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for a total of USD 5 M. As at 20 November 2016, the total funding mobilized for the response by HCT members was approximately USD 12 M.

A second joint GoDPRK – HCT mission travelled to the affected areas on 18 November 2016 to review the status of the response some two and half months after the event. Nine international agencies (EUPS 3, EUPS 4, RCO/OCHA, SDC, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP, WHO) participated in the mission jointly led by the Resident Coordinator and the Secretary General of the National Coordinating Committee (NCC). A representative of the State Committee for Emergency and Disaster Management (SCEDM) also joined the mission at Chongjin.

The objective of the mission, as agreed in the TORs, was to “review the humanitarian response to the floods in North Hamgyong province, in particular the alignment of the international support with the Government’s efforts; to identify gaps/remaining needs as well as achievements/gains that can be jointly attributed to the Government and HCT partners and record any lessons learned for continuing and future programming, including most urgent priorities for the winter.” The overall aim of the mission was thus to review the status of the response as a whole (rather than by sector or agency) to provide an extra dimension to continuing monitoring missions conducted by each agency to ensure the integrity or their programming.

Methodology: Mission members visited Yonsa (19 Nov), Musan (20 Nov) and Hoeryong City (21 Nov) as the three most severely affected counties and also the ones to which the bulk of international assistance (including all CERF-funded activities) had been devoted. Humanitarian partners had also requested to visit one of the three counties not covered by the CERF grant (Kyonghung, Kyongwon and Onsong). In this context Onsong had been proposed as the county with the greatest damage to arable lands. However, the team was advised that given the limited time and difficult road travel during the winter season, it would not be advisable to include Onsong in the programme at this time.

The mission visited a variety of sites and locations in the three counties, including temporary and newly built clinics, a People’s Hospital, a newly constructed nursery and kindergarten, a temporary shelter, several different newly built homes, and a re-allocated water source. In Yonsa county meetings and site visits were conducted by the whole team together while in Musan and Hoeryong City the team was able to split up into smaller groups for more technical discussions by sector.

The programme was organized by provincial and local authorities in each county, based on the requests by mission members and in an effort to ensure that all key sectors (Food Security, Nutrition, Health WASH, Shelter and Education) were covered. The team had an opportunity to interact with local authorities and sector experts (food administrators, land and city management officials, health professionals and WASH focal points) and beneficiary households. Beneficiaries interviewed to included men and women, including pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and people with disabilities.