DPRK Situation Report
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT (USAID)
2 Dec. 1997
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT (USAID)
BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
December 2, 1997
Background: Since 1995, North Korea/Democratic People's Republic
of Korea (DPRK) has suffered from extreme food shortages and generalized
economic decline. Chronic and systemic deficiencies, particularly
in the agriculture and health sectors, have been exacerbated by several
years of back-to-back natural catastrophes leaving millions vulnerable
to malnutrition, opportunistic disease and starvation. In the
summer of 1995, floods swept through the southwestern and northwestern
regions of the country damaging over 400,000 hectares of arable land, destroying
crops and leaving 500,000 people homeless. The humanitarian crisis
continued in 1996 and was again aggravated by flooding in the same areas
during late July.
According to DPRK estimates, the July 1996 floods left at least 30,000 people homeless and caused an additional $1.7 billion in damage to crops and infrastructure. Due to the flooding and resultant food shortage, WFP estimated in 1996 that nearly 2.5 million women and children in the DPRK were at serious risk of starvation. During the 1997 harvest season, the corn crop was devastated by a severe summer drought and abnormally high temperatures. WFP estimated that the drought resulted in the loss of 1.5 million MTs of corn, approximately 70 percent of the total crop. Next, many of the prime rice producing zones along the western coast were inundated by tidal waves caused by Typhoon Winnie in late August. IFRC estimated that, due to the waves, 700,000 MTs of grain were lost and 28,000 were left homeless.
Current Humanitarian Assistance: In April, the U.N. launched its third consolidated inter-agency appeal for $126.2 million to cover the period from April 1997 to March 1998. The appeal focuses on food aid, food security and restoring basic health services that have been severely disrupted due to natural disasters and structural and economic deficiencies. As of mid-November 1997, the consolidated appeal was 81.8 percent funded, with WFP's food aid component receiving 118 percent coverage (a total of 393,844 MTs) and UNICEF's component receiving 108 percent coverage. WFP is expected to issue a new international appeal for 1998 in December 1997 that will likely call for well over 400,000 MT of emergency food assistance. An increasing number of international organizations and NGOs, including the IFRC, Caritas and Medecins sans Frontieres, have also mounted relief efforts in response to the humanitarian disaster in North Korea.
U.S. Government (USG) Assistance: Over the course of FY 1997, BHR/FFP provided 177,000 MT of corn, corn-soy blend and rice valued at $52 million.
A consortium of US-based NGOs including CARE, Catholic Relief Services, World Vision International, Amigos Internacionales and Mercy Corps International spent three months in the DPRK monitoring the distribution of 55,000 MTs of corn provided by BHR/FFP under the WFP umbrella. Meanwhile, as the humanitarian crisis worsened, BHR/OFDA continued to closely monitor the situation. In April, BHR/OFDA sent CDC epidemiologist Brent Burkholder to the DPRK as part of a Congressional Delegation led by U.S. Rep. Tony Hall. Then, in August, BHR/OFDA sent CDC epidemiologist Ali Mokdad to serve as a team leader on a joint WFP/UNICEF survey designed to measure the scope of malnutrition in the DPRK.
On September 29, 1997, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Charles Kartman declared a disaster for FY 1997 and FY 1998 due to the continuing and severe food shortages and the near total collapse of the DPRK's health care system. BHR/OFDA responded with a $5 million grant toward the then critically under-funded UNICEF appeal to provide medicines and medical supplies including measles immunizations, cold chain equipment, multi-nutrient vitamins and supplementary food for therapeutic feeding in hospitals. BHR/OFDA will arrange to fund Assistant Project Officers in the DPRK to assist in the implementation of its grant to UNICEF and to ensure that OFDA-funded supplies are delivered, transported and utilized effectively. In October, USAID/BHR's Acting Assistant Administrator Len Rogers led the first official USG team of experts, which included CDC epidemiologist Brent Burkholder, on a food needs assessment mission to the DPRK. The delegation's visit served as an opportunity to increase transparency on the food crisis, particulary related to access, information and monitoring. Finally, a humanitarian planning map focusing on logistics, agricultural production and population distribution was developed by BHR/OFDA utilizing satellite imagery. The map will be made available to the humanitarian response community in January 1998.
BHR/OFDA Humanitarian Assistance
FY 1997..........................................$20,217
BHR/OFDA Humanitarian Assistance FY 1998.....................................$5,000,000
BHR/FFP Humanitarian Assistance FY 1997.............................
.........$52,000,000
Total USG Humanitarian Assistance (FY 1997 and 1998)................$57,020,217