UNICEF calls for urgent funding for nutrition crisis in DPR Korea
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today called for funding to assist millions of people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), particularly children and women, who are at risk of becoming severely malnourished.
“If the funding does not arrive and we are unable to keep up our nutrition programmes to treat those children who are severely malnourished, these children will suffer irreversible consequences on their growth and development capacity,” said Bijaya Rajbhandari, UNICEF Representative in DPRK.
The agency, which has been working in DPRK for over 25 years, has requested $20.4 million for its emergency response for this year but has only received $4.6 million, it stated in a news release. Other agencies working in the country are facing similar funding shortfalls.
“We must continue to address the poor public nutrition situation in DPRK in combination with adequate health, water, sanitation and hygiene interventions which are also underlying factors to the malnutrition situation in DPRK,” said Mr. Rajbhandari.
According to UNICEF reports, maternal under-nutrition is of great concern, as over a quarter of women in DPRK aged 15 to 49 are under-nourished.
This puts them at greater risk of delivering infants with low birth weight who are at higher risk of mortality and diseases, increasing widespread chronic malnutrition with catastrophic long-term effects on children’s development.
During her recent visit to the DPRK, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos warned that the country cannot feed its people for the “foreseeable future,” and urged the world to step up its humanitarian support for an estimated six million people who now depend on food aid.
Ms. Amos, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, reported that the country remains “highly food insecure,” with daily rations recently reduced, unreliable food supplies, restricted agricultural production and many children left stunted.