Aid to DPRK drops in H1 2014

According to Yonhap:

International humanitarian assistance to North Korea tumbled nearly 50 percent in the first half of this year from a year earlier, a U.S. radio report said Wednesday.

Citing the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Washington-based Voice of America said North Korea received US$19.6 million of humanitarian aid in the January-June period, down 45 percent from the same period last year.

The report, however, gave no reason for the on-year plunge.

Six countries offered aid to the impoverished country during the six-month period, down from 10 a year earlier.

Switzerland led the pack with $3.82 million, followed by Sweden and Canada. No data was available on aid from Australia, Germany, Italy and Ireland, which provided assistance to the communist country last year, the report said.

Over 65 percent of the aid has been allocated to improve food security and nutrition in the country, it added.

So far this year, the U.N. has extended $6.49 million in the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) to five of its agencies working in the communist state. The CERF is a type of pooled funds managed by the OCHA to assist humanitarian operations in any country experiencing acute or large, on-going crises.

Read the full story here:
Humanitarian aid to N. Korea nearly halves in H1: report
Yonhap
2014-7-2

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