Press conference by United Nations deputy emergency relief coordinator

on flooding in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

 

With the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea reeling in the wake of floods and landslides that had left 221 people dead and swept 300,000 more from their homes, United Nations assessment teams on the ground were continuing their efforts to get confirmed information on the damage, despite collapsed bridges and washed-out roads in many hard-hit areas, a top humanitarian official from the world body said today.

Margareta Wahlström, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, told reporters at a Headquarters press conference today that field assessments had been under way since Tuesday in several flood-affected provinces, including North and South Hwanghae, South Phyongan, Kangwon and South Hamgyong.  On Wednesday, assessment teams were sent to hard-hit areas by the European Commission, the Swiss Development Corporation and a host of non-governmental organizations.  The World Food Programme (WFP) and its Government counterparts would begin assessments later today in North Hwanghae and South Hamgyong.

Stressing that the teams were trying really hard to gather data, despite some of the physical obstacles caused by the floods themselves, and the destruction of the bridges and roads, she said that everyone was aware that the clock was ticking.  “We are trying to get a framework that everyone feels confident is the correct one; our next priority is to agree on action in response to what all observers now identify as a serious disaster,” she said.

With more rains expected in the coming days, and the number of displaced persons likely to continue to grow, the United Nations hoped to launch an appeal for humanitarian assistance by the middle of next week.  “I would like to see us push ahead with that,” she said, expressing the hope for enough solid information to come up with an adequate response to the situation “at least in the short term”.

Noting that donors had met today in New York to discuss ways to mobilize resources to bring relief to the hundreds of thousands of flood-stricken people, she said that Government delegations, drawing on information provided by their own staff on the ground, as well as United Nations workers and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, had pledged to support the ongoing priorities that would be identified by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Responding to questions, she said that the countries at the talks had included Australia, China, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States.  The European Commission had also participated.  The United States had already made a donation through non-governmental organizations, and $7.5 million pledged by the Republic of Korea was through a bilateral donation to non-governmental organizations and other organizations.

To other questions, she said that several non-governmental organizations and the Red Cross had already begun distributing non-food items to help provide shelter and basic utilities.  Food support programmes were ongoing, but again, it was quite difficult to access people because of the high waters.  There were food supplies and, significantly, the World Food Programme (WFP) had nearly 6,000 tons of food that it would immediately put at the disposal of the relief effort as soon as the waters receded enough for distribution to begin.  Additionally, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was running nutritional support programmes.

She said that there had been no reports that Pyongyang was interfering with the relief efforts in any way, and OCHA took as a “positive signal” that the Government was participating in the ongoing assessments.  Responding to another question, she noted that the figures for the death toll -- 221 -- had been provided by the Government.

Taking the opportunity to update correspondents on the situation in Peru following Wednesday’s devastating magnitude-8 earthquake, she said that the number of casualties officially remained at 450, although local authorities were reporting some 510 dead.  A number of neighbouring countries -- Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico -- were providing relief aid and supplies.  The Inter-American Development Bank and the European Union had given cash.  A United Nations team was being deployed and would arrive tonight.  It would focus on assessing the damage in rural areas.

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For information media • not an official record