UN relief official welcomes US food aid for Democratic People's Republic of Korea

A top United Nations aid official today welcomed the announcement by the United States Agency for International Development that it would contribute an additional 100,000 metric tons of food aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The donation came after the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kenzo Oshima, and the heads of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) appealed on 30 April for increased humanitarian funding to prevent conditions in the country from deteriorating.

"This generous contribution by the Government of the United States will help to remedy an anticipated break in July of WFP's food aid pipeline for the DPRK," Mr. Oshima said in a statement released in New York.

The Emergency Relief Coordinator voiced confidence that other States would also provide support to the humanitarian programme in the DPRK. According to the UN's mid-year review of the Consolidated Appeal for the country, a critical lack of funding in the health sector, particularly for essential drugs and emergency nutritional rehabilitation programmes, places vulnerable groups at risk of dying preventable deaths.