‘Some things have improved’ but the level of undernourishment remains high, humanitarian affairs chief tells Al Jazeera.
The UN humanitarian affairs chief has said North Korea made progress against undernourishment since UN’s last visit to Pyongyang in 2011, but there was “still too much suffering”.
Mark Lowcock, the UN humanitarian affairs chief, told Al Jazeera from Pyongyang that “some things have improved”.
“The most recent data the UNICEF – the UN’s children’s agency – collected is [suggesting] that the stunting rate [among children] has fallen to 20 percent [from almost 30],” said Lowcock.
“Of course though, 20 percent of children being malnourished is far too many. Nearly half the children in rural areas as well don’t have access to clean water.”
About 10.6 million people among the country’s 25 million population need humanitarian assistance, the UN said, also noting “disparities” in access to basic health services between rural and urban areas.
Mortality rates for under-fives are 20 percent higher in the countryside than in towns, it said, adding a shortage of funding had forced it to stop nutrition support to kindergartens since November 2017.
