Int'l Red Cross begins assisting N. Korea on droughts, floods

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has embarked on projects aimed at helping North Korea to minimize the damage from natural calamities such as droughts and floods, a U.S.-based media report said Thursday.

The IFRC's North Korea support project is designed to help the country deal with natural disasters and was formally launched on May 1, the Voice of America (VOA) said, citing a Finnish Red Cross official.

According to the Finnish official, a full-fledged assistance project will begin soon in the two farming areas of Hamju and Kumya in North Hamgyong Province in North Korea.

The disaster control and management project seeks to increase the ability to reduce the impact of droughts and floods on the country's rural districts as much as possible.

In preparation for the calamity, the IFRC is poised to supply various items and relief goods such as tents, sanitary fittings and irrigation equipment.

The IFRC has supported the North Korean Red Cross in four areas: health and care, water and sanitation, disaster management, and organizational development.

The disaster management program is strongly focused on community-based disaster risk reduction, including strengthening community-based mechanisms for disaster preparedness, generating awareness, and setting up an early warning system. It also strives to push forward mitigation measures like building river dikes, culverts and irrigation channels, and planting trees as a long-term mitigation measure. In this way it hopes to improve the livelihoods of ordinary people by reducing their vulnerability to disasters.

Under the project, various kinds of exercises, including emergency evacuations, will be conducted for local people in rural areas to prepare for when they suffer from a natural disaster.

Of the total US$450,000 needed for the project in North Korea, some $340,000 has been financed by the European Union and the rest by the Red Cross offices of Finland, Denmark and Sweden, according to the VOA report.

The United Nations Security Council imposed heavy sanctions based on the North's provocative actions earlier this year, but such sanctions exclude humanitarian assistance for ordinary North Korean residents. (Yonhap)