UN to give over $1M to North for flood relief

The United Nations will provide more than $1 million in emergency relief to flood-stricken North Korea, a news report said yesterday.

According to the Voice of America, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund allocated about $1.05 million in “Rapid Response Grants” for the communist country last Thursday following reports of heavy flood damage.

The sum will be divided between the UN World Food Programme and Unicef to help them deliver nutritional aid to women and children affected by the floods and to improve drinking water and hygiene.

North Korea said early this month a total of 169 people were killed and 400 others missing after heavy downpours that swept through large parts of the country between late June and the end of July.

The flooding also left 144 people injured and some 212,200 others homeless, according to the country’s state media.

North Korea has asked the international community for emergency aid, while the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Pyongyang issued a report last week calling for an additional $3.7 million in flood assistance.

Yonhap