World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

ROME/PYONGYANG – A nationwide assessment by United Nations agencies estimates there has been an increase in staple food production in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for the second year running. This, however, should not mask an ongoing struggle with undernutrition and a lack of vital protein and fat in the diet, especially for an estimated 2.8 million vulnerable people.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun the distribution of food funded by an 8.5 million euros donation from ECHO – the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office – for its emergency operation to reach mainly young children and women threatened by rising malnutrition in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is launching an emergency food and nutrition operation to respond to urgent hunger needs among 3.5 million vulnerable people identified in a multi-agency food security survey that was completed  in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) last month.
 

NEW DELHI – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a generous donation of US$1 million from the Government of India for its operation to reach the most vulnerable children and their mothers in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

ROME - About five million people living in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will continue to face food shortages despite a relatively good harvest and a slight increase in food supply, a joint report by FAO and WFP said today.

Rome, 8 December 2008 - Around 40 percent of the population of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), an estimated 8.7 million people, mostly young children, pregnant and nursing women and the elderly, will urgently need food assistance because of an expected cereals deficit in the coming months, FAO and WFP said in a joint report today.

Millions of people in DPRK are experiencing hunger not seen in almost a decade according to the findings of a new UN assessment in the east Asian country.

WFP announced an agreement with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that paves the way for a rapid expansion of its food assistance to more than 5 million hungry people throughout the country.

WFP has warned that time is running out to avert looming food shortages and a potential humanitarian crisis in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) following confirmation of a critically low national harvest stemming in part from last year’s heavy August floods.

FAO has called for a renewed commitment to guarantee the right to food for the world's hundreds of millions of hungry people.