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NORTH KOREA: European Commission clears Humanitarian Aid worth ECU 6.175 million.

The European Commission has approved humanitarian aid worth ECU 6.175 million for famine-stricken North Korea. The aid, managed by the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), will enable non-governmental organisations to support a nutrition programme that is being carried out by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and to supply medical aid. This decision is part of an overall package which also includes food aid worth ECU 46.3 million.

North Korea appealed for humanitarian aid for the first time in its history following disastrous flooding in 1995/96. The
economy has collapsed, and people are eating roots and grass to survive. Large-scale food aid is being organised via
Directorate General VIII of the Commission in cooperation with the World Food Programme. ECHO is contributing with
special feeding programmes for malnourished children, and with medical aid.

ECHO's partners for this programme are Médecins sans Frontières (France, Belgium and Netherlands sections) and
Cooperazione e Svilippo (Italy). MSF experts will work closely with UNICEF, and will also set up drinking water supplies for
hospitals that currently lack adequate facilities.

This grant brings ECHO funding for humanitarian aid in North Korea to a total of ECU 9.915 million so far this year.