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DATE=12/15/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-243018
TITLE=UN/NORTH KOREA AID (L-ONLY) -- CQ
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THE UNITED NATIONS AND PRIVATE AGENCIES HAVE LAUNCHED A 
JOINT APPEAL FOR 376-MILLION DOLLARS TO PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN 
ASSISTANCE TO NORTH KOREA THROUGHOUT 1999.  THE U-N SAYS MORE 
THAN 100-MILLION DOLLARS OF THIS APPEAL ALREADY HAS BEEN PLEDGED.
FROM GENEVA, LISA SCHLEIN HAS MORE.
TEXT: THE MONEY WILL PROVIDE FOOD AND OTHER CRUCIAL ASSISTANCE TO
NEARLY FIVE-AND-A-HALF MILLION NORTH KOREANS CONSIDERED MOST 
VULNERABLE.  ALMOST 90 PERCENT OF THE MONEY WILL BE USED FOR FOOD
AID.
DESPITE AN IMPROVED HARVEST THIS YEAR, THE UNITED NATIONS SAYS 
NORTH KOREA WILL CONTINUE TO SUFFER SERIOUS FOOD SHORTAGES IN 
1999.  THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM ESTIMATES THE COUNTRY WILL BEGIN 
THE NEW YEAR WITH A FOOD DEFICIT OF OVER ONE MILLION TONS.
A RECENT JOINT STUDY BY TWO U-N AGENCIES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION 
REVEALED THAT MOST OF THE CHILDREN SURVEYED UNDER THE AGE OF 
SEVEN SUFFERED FROM ACUTE OR CHRONIC MALNUTRITION.  THE STUDY 
FOUND THE RATES OF MALNUTRITION IN NORTH KOREA TO BE AMONG THE 
HIGHEST IN ASIA.  IN ALL OF ASIA, ONLY INDIA AND BANGLADESH HAVE 
HIGHER RATES. 
WORLD FOOD PROGRAM SPOKESWOMAN CHRISTIANE BERTHIAUME SAYS THE 
IMPACT OF MALNUTRITION AMONG CHILDREN IS LONG-LASTING AND VERY 
DAMAGING. 
                      ///BERTHIAUME ACT///
         THEY DO SUFFER WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE THE WEIGHT OR THE 
         HEIGHT THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE.  AND, THEY DO SUFFER 
         PERMANENTLY PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL DAMAGES.  THESE 
         CHILDREN WILL BE (MORE PRONE TO) DIABETES, OR SUFFER 
         FROM HEART ATTACKS.
                          ///END ACT///
THE SURVEY ALSO FOUND SERIOUS NUTRITIONAL PROBLEMS AMONG OTHER 
VULNERABLE GROUPS IN NORTH KOREA, SUCH AS THE ELDERLY AND 
DISABLED.
THE UNITED NATIONS SAYS NORTH KOREA'S CHRONIC FOOD SHORTAGES  ARE
DUE MORE TO THE BAD STATE OF THE ECONOMY THAN THE BAD WEATHER.  
AND IT SAYS UNTIL ITS ECONOMY IMPROVES, NORTH KOREA WILL CONTINUE
TO DEPEND ON INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE. 
/// REST OPT ///  IN THE MEANTIME, THE UNITED NATIONS PLANS TO 
USE SOME OF THE MONEY FROM THE APPEAL TO HELP REHABILITATE THE 
AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM, TO PROVIDE PUBLIC HEALTH CARE, GOOD WATER 
AND SANITATION. (SIGNED) 
NEB/LS/PCF/GE
15-Dec-98 11:24 AM EST (1624 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.