DPR Korea's Humanitarian Aid & other topics - Daily Press Briefing (6 March 2019)

Briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Daily Noon briefing:
- DSG Travels
- Human Rights
- DPRK Humanitarian
- Sahel, Ebola
- Measles
- WHO Reform
- Libya
- Iraq
- Press Encounters Tomorrow
DSG TRAVELS
Tonight, the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed will travel to Geneva to address the Human Rights Council. She will also have bilateral meetings with senior Government officials and senior officials of UN entities in Geneva. The Deputy Secretary-General is expected back in New York on Thursday.

HUMAN RIGHTS
In Geneva today, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, addressed the 40th session of the Human Rights Council.
She stressed that inequalities stir grievances and unrest, and that they also fuel hatred and violence.
But Ms. Bachelet said that human rights build hope, binding humanity together with shared principles and a better future, in sharp contrast to the divisive, destructive forces of repression, exploitation, scapegoating, discrimination and inequalities.

DPRK HUMANITARIAN
The United Nations today released the 2019 Needs and Priority Plan for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which calls for $120 million to urgently provide life-saving aid to 3.8 million people.
Some 11 million people – or more than 40 per cent of the population – lack sufficient nutritious food, clean drinking water or access to basic services such as health and sanitation.
Widespread undernutrition threatens an entire generation of children, with one in five children stunted due to chronic undernutrition. Coupled with limited healthcare and a lack of access to safe water and sanitation and hygiene services, children are also at risk of dying from curable diseases.
Humanitarian activities in the DPRK are critically underfunded and last year’s Needs and Priorities Plan was only 24 per cent funded, making it one of the lowest funded humanitarian plans in the world. Without adequate funding this year, some agencies will be forced to close down projects providing life-saving aid to the most vulnerable people.
Tapan Mishra, the UN Resident Coordinator in the country, said that if we are to address and mitigate the impact of food insecurity on the most vulnerable in the country, including women and children, the time to act is now.
Last year, aid agencies were only able reach one third of the people to whom the UN planned to provide humanitarian assistance, with an estimated 1.4 million people not receiving food assistance.
More information online.
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