N. Korea competes for aid with RI: UN<\/p>\n
BEIJING (Reuters): Food shipments to North Korea are being
\nthreatened as aid is diverted to Indonesia, hit hard by the Asian
\nfinancial crisis, UN officials said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"There are competing demands in the world, especially in this
\nregion now with Indonesia,\" said Douglas Coutts, the Pyongyang-
\nbased representative of the World Food Program.<\/p>\n
\"Many donors that would otherwise be contributing to our
\nprogram, and are at present contributing, have to decide how much
\nto send to North Korea, how much to send to Indonesia,\" he told a
\nnews conference. \"That is new, we did not have that last year.\"<\/p>\n
North Korea is struggling to feed its 24 million people after
\nthree years of floods, drought and other natural disasters.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has been hit by falling wages and rising food prices
\nthat have sparked widespread riots and led to President
\nSoeharto's fall last month.<\/p>\n
Coutts was part of a UN mission, including WFP and Food and
\nAgriculture Organization officials, that visited eight of North
\nKorea's 12 provinces on June 2-12.<\/p>\n
The officials said they did not see famine, although many
\npeople were dying from illnesses such as colds and pneumonia as
\nthe general health level declined.<\/p>\n
\"The general situation for the entire population was going
\ndown,\" Coutts said.<\/p>\n
Abdur Rashid, an information officer at FAO, told the news
\nconference: \"We can confirm that the food crisis is not over\".<\/p>\n
Although this year's crops appeared healthy, Rashid said the
\nfood supply remained precarious. Stocks would be exhausted during
\nJuly and August.<\/p>\n
The next few months, when North Korea usually receives half of
\nits rainfall, would be critical, Rashid said.<\/p>\n
He said the public food distribution system covering 80
\npercent of the population had ceased to function in many areas of
\nthe country starting in March. The system also collapsed during
\nMarch last year.<\/p>\n
\"This is the time when the consumption of herbs, wild plants,
\nroots and berries increases,\" Rashid said.<\/p>\n
Coutts said cases of gastro-intestinal diseases among the
\nrural population had risen sharply this year because of the poor
\ndiet. Many people had fallen ill from drinking polluted reservoir
\nwater.<\/p>\n
The North has been relying on international food aid, much of
\nit channeled through the WFP.<\/p>\n
Rashid said international donors this year had sent or pledged
\n800,000 tons of grain for North Korea, less than one half of the
\n1.95 million tons needed.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/n-korea-competes-for-aid-with-ri-un-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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