The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, prepared the report. It said the number of North Korean childrenbeing treated for severe malnutrition jumped by 38 percent between 2013 and 2014. The report is based on information from the Community Management ofAcute Malnutrition, or CMAM, a United Nations Children’s Fund program. TheUNICEF program treats children with malnutrition.
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| North Koreans farm in the field, along the Yalu River, North Korea. A UN agency says drought may be the cause of increased treatment for malnutrition in the country. |
The report says the increase coincided with the beginning of a period ofdrought, or lack of rain. The findings suggest that the recent drought affectingNorth Korean crops might have made the children’s malnutrition worse.
The North Korean government has reported that the drought in 2014 left 9percent of agricultural land impossible to farm. This year, the drought hasworsened. All North Korean provinces have had less rain than their historicalaverages.
OCHA warned that the malnutrition situation could worsen because ofshortages in oral rehydration salts needed to treat diarrhea.
UNICEF said it is sending more aid to the country.
Christopher de Bono is UNICEF’s spokesman for East Asia and the Pacific. He said, “We are sending more oral rehydration salts, as well as additionalmicro-nutrients, ready-to-use therapeutic food and special oral rehydrationsalts to the DPRK to be prepared in case the situation of childrenfurther deteriorates."
The UNICEF official said the agency provided water purification substancesand containers for 1,300 families in Unpha County in North HwanghaeProvince. It is considered to be one of the areas most affected by the drought.
North Koreais facing chronic food shortages and growing humanitarianneeds. A study from 2012 showed that almost 30 percent of North Koreanchildren under five years of age suffered from chronic malnutrition. Fourpercent of children of the same age group were affected by acute malnutrition.
However, the U.N. humanitarian operations are suffering from a severe lack ofmoney. In 2015, the U.N. requested $104 million to provide humanitarianassistance to North Korea, including food aid. It has received only $33million.
I’m Mario Ritter.
Hyunjun Kim reported this story from Washington. Jee Abbey Lee providedadditional information. Mario Ritter wrote it for VOA Learning English. CatyWeaver was the editor.
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Words in This Story
malnutrition – n. the state of having too little food or food lacking importantnutrients
acute– adj. very serious or dangerous: requiring serious attention or action
coincided – v. taking place at about the same time
therapeutic– adj. providing a benefit to health; treatment, medicine or activitymeant to cure a health problem
deteriorate– v. to become worse as time passes
chronic – adj. long-term; taking place over a long period of time
