PRESS BRIEFING BY UNITED NATIONS HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR IN DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNITED NATIONS HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR IN DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Douglas Coutts, this afternoon gave a breakdown of the $415.6 million consolidated inter-agency appeal for that country launched today by the Organization. He explained that 91 per cent of the total ($378 million) was that of the World Food Programme (WFP) appeal of 6 January. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are participating in the current appeal, to make the food aid very effective in this year's relief effort.

He listed the other key components as: health, which will be managed primarily by UNICEF and WHO; food security, which will go beyond the immediacy of the food relief and which would include rehabilitation and reconstruction aspects in order to assist the Government in food production; water; and sanitation. He stressed the need for effective coordination between the food component and the other aspects, as food alone would not save the targeted population.

Mr. Coutts noted that efforts were being made to facilitate the participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all countries, to help the Government focus on the medium- and longer-term rehabilitation and reconstruction. There were several NGOs, as well as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, that will become heavily involved in providing such support in both the health sector and in the food aid. He said that a lot of progress had already been made. Nutrition had definitely improved, but there was a long way to go to maintain that improvement and to assist the Government in dealing with the structural problems that underline much of the food insecurity throughout the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Asked why little had been heard of the famine situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea since last fall, and whether that was the fault of the news media or a reflection of general improvement in the situation, Mr. Coutts said that the situation did improve following last year's harvest. He explained that 80 per cent of the population benefited from the public distribution system. Although the period between November last year and now had been somewhat better, he reminded correspondents that "we are only talking about 400 grams per person per day as the national average ration", an unsustainable ration even for adults, given the very cold winter there this year. The public distribution ration level was beginning to drop off now because that harvest was running out.

DPRK Briefing - 2 - 12 February 1998

To a question about the outlook for next spring and summer, he replied that it was "much too soon to tell". He recalled the floods in 1995 and 1996, as well as the effects of a typhoon and the drought. "I cannot imagine what natural disasters could come up this year, but we are obviously hopeful that there will be none, and that the harvest will be the best possible." Of the current problems, he pointed out the limited input of the Government, such as lack of foreign exchange to pay for fertilizers and agricultural policies that needed to be improved in order to maximize agricultural production. This year would be a very key year to see what the agricultural sector could do, given all the constraints of that country, without the effects of a natural disaster.

Another correspondent asked for the "size and scope" of the United Nations presence in Pyongyang, and whether there had been a change in "their attitude towards the press". The answer to the second question was "no", Mr. Coutts said. Concerning United Nations staff in the country, the WFP had the largest, 30 expatriate staff as of last week. The new humanitarian operation called for 46 international expatriate staff, 25 involved in monitoring of the food aid in five sub-offices.

Continuing, Mr. Coutts said that UNICEF has seven international staff, but their agreement called for 14 in the new operation. The WHO had just opened a relief office with a couple of expatriate staff; the FAO was heavily involved with the UNDP in the agricultural programmes and would be bringing a few agriculturists. On its own, the UNDP now has about five international staff. There were seven or eight international NGOs, in additional to the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies. The total expatriate staff was about 70, he said, an "incredible increase" of over 200 per cent since the operation began in April last year.

Given the size of the appeal, a correspondent asked about the kind of impact it was having on the food situation. The Humanitarian Coordinator replied that nobody in his team in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was involved in the general distribution of food. The population was too large for that. The 91 per cent he had referred to earlier would benefit 7.5 million people, of which 5.5 million are children between the age of six months and 12 years. The food aid programme focused on vulnerable groups, which comprised those that would be most affected by lack of food. The WHO, UNICEF and the other partners were involved in trying to improve the overall delivery of health care throughout the country.

Asked for details on the health component of the programme, Mr. Coutts said that it concerned mainly the provision of medicines to the clinics, hospitals and schools. There was also a training component that NGOs, such as Médicins san frontières and Médicins du monde, were involved in. The focus was to help the Government improve the structure.

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