Thursday, February 26, 2004
WFP restores emergency food aid flow to North Korea
Associated Press Seoul, February 25
Weeks after cutting aid to North Korea's neediest, the World Food Program announced on Monday it has resumed food aid to millions of people after last-minute emergency contributions.
The World Food Program issued an urgent appeal on February 9 for more aid to North Korea, saying the agency's supplies had nearly run out and that it was cutting off food to almost all the 6.5 million people that it feeds there.
That flow has been partially restored thanks to contributions from Germany, New Zealand, Canada and Norway, the WFP said in a statement released on Wednesday from its office in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
"Our ability to borrow commodities to cover this month means that we can now resume cereal distributions to most, but not all, of the 6.5 million children, women and elderly identified as particularly needy," said Masood Hyder, WFP representative for North Korea.
The WFP warned, however, that 1.5 million vulnerable people would still go hungry over the next six weeks if more donations are not made.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2004.