WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2003
Unicef appeals for urgent donations for N Korea
AP
BEIJING: Warning that its clinics in North Korea will run out of medicines in April, the UN children's agency has issued an urgent appeal for donations, asking countries to set aside any unease about helping the North during the crisis over its nuclear program and missile tests.
Unicef has received less than $500,000 of the $12 million it needs this year to buy medicines, high-energy milk and other supplies for 2.5 million North Korean children, said Mehr Khan, its Asia-Pacific director. She said more than half of that came from Norway, while many other previous donors have given nothing.
Without new donations, Unicef clinics will run out of medicines in April and other supplies in coming months, Khan said.
"Unless urgent assistance is provided, we could see malnutrition rates go up," Khan said at a news conference after returning from a weeklong visit to the North.
Khan said she didn't know why giving has fallen off. But asked whether it could be linked to tensions over the North's nuclear program and missile tests that have unsettled its neighbours, she said that was a possibility and appealed for donors to set aside any such unease in order to help the isolated country's children.
"It might be the political uncertainty... and people are holding back donations," she said. "But with humanitarian assistance, we cannot wait. The children cannot wait."
North Korea has relied on foreign aid to feed its people since its state-run farm system collapsed in the mid-1990s following decades of mismanagement and the loss of Soviet subsidies.
Copyright 2003 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.