The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), will provide 2 million euros (2.74 million U.S. dollars) in emergency humanitarian aid to flood victims in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Commission announced on Tuesday.
The aid will cover some 500,000 people directly affected by the record torrential rains that struck the DPRK in the past weeks, and will be used to meet the basic needs of the victims over a period of six months, said the Commission.
"The reports received from our field office in North Korea (DPRK) and from all our humanitarian partner organizations have confirmed the disastrous situation faced by hundreds of thousands of North Koreans. In view of the significant needs, we are mobilizing a new package of 2 million euros for emergency humanitarian assistance," said European Commissioner Louis Michel, who is responsible for development and humanitarian aid.
All the funds are being channeled through the Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), under the responsibility of Michel, and will be allocated to implementing international humanitarian organizations.
ECHO's humanitarian response will focus on the provision of essential drugs and basic medical equipment, safe water, food, water and sanitation facilities as well as relief assistance including tarpaulins, blankets and basic household items.
The new EU aid comes one day after the United Nations launched an emergency fund appeal of 14 million dollars to meet the humanitarian needs in the DPRK.
The DPRK government said last Saturday that torrential rains in early August left at least 600 people dead or missing and 100,000 homeless.
The floods damaged more than 11 percent of farmland, destroyed about 46,580 houses and affected more than 300,000 people in the DPRK earlier this month after heavy rains hit Pyongyang and six of the country's nine provinces, according to the DPRK's Korean Central News Agency.
Since 1997, the European Commission has provided 122 million euros (167 million dollars) of humanitarian assistance to the DPRK through its implementing partners.
Source: Xinhua
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