UN calls for aid for North Korean flood victims

(Baonghean.vn) - Yonhap news agency reported on September 23 that United Nations agencies operating in North Korea have called on the United Nations Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for financial support to help the heavily affected area in northeastern North Korea recover from floods.

A village in North Korea is isolated by floodwaters. Photo: Yonhap.

Six areas in North Hamkyong Province, North Korea have been severely damaged by heavy rains caused by Typhoon Lionrock.

According to Christelle Loupforest, Head of Communications and Resource Mobilization, CEFR has received requests from missions based in North Korea for emergency funding to support the people of this country. CERF is reviewing the requests and will make a decision soon.

Currently, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) are all operating in North Korea.

The United Nations has previously announced plans to mobilize about $28 million in financial resources to help the six most severely affected areas in North Hamkyong. According to UN figures, floods in North Korea have killed 138 people, about 400 others are missing, and more than 20,000 houses have been destroyed.

However, some fear North Korea is using the damage it has suffered from flooding to nullify UN sanctions imposed after its nuclear tests.

Mr. Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea - a US-based non-governmental organization, said that after receiving aid, it is very likely that North Korea will carry out a large campaign to propagate to its people that major powers such as the US and the United Nations must provide support resources because they are "fearful of North Korea".

Diep Khanh

(According to Yonhap)