Early donor response required to meet growing humanitarian needs in DPRK
ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today sincerely thanked the Republic of Korea for a landmark donation of 50,000 metric tons of rice and US$4.5 million in cash for the humanitarian response to food needs in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
“The DPRK has been hit hard by drought and poor harvests that have left millions of hungry children, women and men facing severe food shortages over the coming months,” said WFP Regional Director – Asia Pacific, David Kaatrud. The agency estimates that at least 300,000 metric tons of food, valued at US$275 million, is needed to scale up humanitarian assistance in support of those people most affected by significant crop losses over successive seasons.
Rising humanitarian needs in the DPRK require urgent support to meet the food and nutrition requirements of millions of people facing hunger. A joint FAO/WFP food security assessment report released last month found that food production in 2018 had dropped dramatically, putting 10.1 million people at risk.
As with all its food assistance operations in DPRK, WFP will require that high standards for access and monitoring are in place before taking responsibility to distribute any aid.
For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Greg Barrow, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 342 807 9718
James Belgrave, WFP/Pyongyang, Tel. +66 656 090 953
Herve Verhoosel, WFP/Geneva, Mob. +41 798428057
KG Sohn, WFP/Seoul. Tel. +82 2 873 9579