Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Seoul (Fides Service) - North Korea has accepted the offer of international food aid to feed 1,9 million people. The government’s decision came after it had said it could manage without said Anthony Banbury, UN director of World Food Programme Asia. For the N. Korean government which had rejected food aid this is a partial step backwards. The WFP expressed concern for four million North Koreas denied international aid. About 6 million people benefited from a WFP programme launched to fight hunger in the 1990s.
After months of talks WFP, now aid will resume in two weeks time with a two year plan “to fight hunger and promote basic food security”, the Asia director said. “This decision is important”, he said. “We worked hard to reach an agreement and now we can resume food aid”. He said the agreement was a compromise to guarantee WFP the possibility of helping the most vulnerable people in North Korea. “We negotiated and obtained the best possible terms considering the circumstances”, he said. WFP will supply 150 tones of food aid for about 1.9 million North Koreans over the next two years costing an estimated 102 million dollars.
WFP suspended food aid in December 2005, when Pyongyang asked to accept only programmes to support economic growth. At the end of 2005 for political reasons Pyongyang expelled all private organisations which were supplying aid to the people. One of the organisations most appreciated by the government is the Catholic aid agency Caritas, which has assisted the most vulnerable people, children, women and the elderly since the 1990s. Hitherto these Caritas programmes were the responsibility Caritas Hong Kong, now they will be organised by Caritas in Seoul. (Agenzia Fides 12/5/2006 righe 27 parole 270)
