Floods
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
OCHA Situation Report No. 16
4 December 2007
This report is based on information from UN Agencies, IFRC, Programme Support Units (PSUs), the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP).
SITUATION
1. Heavy rains from 7-14 August 2007 caused severe floods in nine provinces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including the capital city, Pyongyang. The floods affected almost one million people and displaced nearly 170,000. At least 454 people were reported dead and 156 people missing. The Government of DPRK reported more than 40,000 houses completely destroyed, with a further 200,000 submerged or badly damaged. Thousands of schools, hospitals and other public buildings were destroyed or badly damaged. At least 10 per cent of agricultural land was inundated.
2. Rainstorms and strong winds caused by Typhoon Wipha from 17-20 September led to further severe losses and damage: DPRK Red Cross Society estimated an additional 1,649 people were made homeless and over 109,000 hectares of farmland damaged.
3. Frequent monitoring visits have been undertaken in the affected areas. Results of these suggest that the previously reported spike in diarrhoeal disease has returned to normal levels. Information materials and a nationwide campaign are expected to help keep these levels down.
4. Local authority concerns over potential flood-related food security for vulnerable groups have been expressed, but humanitarian partners await full harvest data from the Government, expected in January 2008.
5. Post-reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in residential housing and infrastructure appear to be progressing well, although detailed information on national rehabilitation efforts is unavailble.
NATIONAL RESPONSE
6. Observations from recent field trips confirm that rehabilitation of residential housing in flood-affected areas, led by national and provincial authorities, is progressing well. According to local officials, infrastructure rehabilitation is also nearing completion. More detailed and comprehensive information on national rehabilitation efforts is outstanding, although the National Coordinating Committee has indicated it would make such information available. Comprehensive Government disease surveillance information for the flood-affected areas is also expected.
7. County officials are estimating that this year's harvest could be significantly affected because of the floods, although this has not been verified by international organizations or other observers. Official harvest data from the Ministry of Agriculture is expected in late January. In view of the potential for shortfall, many counties are reportedly planning to adjust the food basket and reduce rations provided through the Public Distributions System. Many officials have stated that WFP assistance will be needed to cover the post-floods gap, through support for food-for-community-development rehabilitation projects and as regular nutritional support to children and pregnant/lactating women.
COORDINATED IN-COUNTRY RESPONSE
Coordination and monitoring
8. Meetings are held between the UN Resident Coordinator, ad interim, and national counterparts at the National Coordinating Committee, although participation by national authorities is lower now than compared with the early stages of the emergency response. Observations from the field are shared between international aid providers in the regular sectoral meetings and shared with the broader resident international community in weekly inter-agency meetings, but comprehensive official information on the national response has not been made available. Monitoring continues to be carried out by sector partners and checked in the field among sectors as well, where possible.
9. A UN Country Team Emergency Preparedness and Planning workshop is currently being discussed, with the support of OCHA ROAP. The option of organizing such a workshop jointly with the Government of DPRK is under consideration.
Health and Nutrition
10. Preparations are complete for the nationwide campaign on diarrhoea prevention and hygiene promotion, to be launched this week on Child Health Day, 5 December. Supplies including 3 million ORS sachets, 880,000 zinc tablets, 340,000 bars of soap and Korean-language leaflets on diarrhoea prevention and the use of zinc and ORS (1 million x diarrhoea and 500,000 x zinc tablet leaflets) were procured by UNCEF with CERF funding and were delivered to the affected counties. Some 50 participants from resident diplomatic missions and international organizations will observe Child Health Day activities and the launch of the campaign in flood-affected areas.
11. UNICEF information materials on diarrhoea prevention and good hygiene promotion have been delivered by MoPH to IFRC-supported areas, as per an agreement between the two organizations. UNICEF continues monitoring activities to ensure aid is reaching the targeted health facilities and beneficiaries. As of 25 November more than twenty post-flood monitoring visits have been carried out by UNICEF staff. Estimated coverage of beneficiaries is over 5.5 million people in the flood-affected areas.
12. EUPS Unit 1 received its shipment of medical kits, which are to be distributed to the 11 targeted hospitals. Refurbishment of the operating theatre, roof and latrines of Kumchon County hospital (North Hwanghae province) is due to begin in mid-December.
13. IFRC has distributed 1,953 instrument kits to 56 counties; 388 referral kits are expected to arrive to the country this week. Medical furniture for the identified 156 ri health facilities will be delivered by February 2008 and equipment later. During the rapid assessment of health facilities the staff were monitoring the assistance provided by IFRC and other agencies.
14. WHO staff visited 11 counties in South Pyongan, South and North Hwanghae provinces, and monitoring visits to four counties in North Pyongan province are complete. Emergency health supplies had reached the visited counties. Similar to other locations, field visits confirmed the initial increase in diarrhoeal disease in the aftermath of the floods by 20-30 per cent above average, however the situation appears to have returned to normal. In case of any future increase in waterborne disease, sufficient stocks of ORS are reported.
15. Regular coordination among health partners for post-flood emergency activities continues. The WHO proposal of support on disease surveillance is still being considered by the MoPH.
Water and Sanitation
16. The Ministry of City Management (MoCM) agreed with the recommendation to carry out a centralized repair campaign of pumps/motors to be undertaken in Pyongyang and provincial capitals in February 2008. UNICEF has placed orders for necessary repair materials while initial supplies have been distributed to 26 flood affected counties and repairs to pumps are underway. UNICEF is compiling data on the number of pumps that are now functioning through provision of these basic repair materials.
17. The international technical team designed an emergency pump-based system, which could be constructed in counties where pump stations were washed away or beyond repair. Two pump stations in Koksan and Taetan counties were identified for urgent rehabilitation in March-April 2008, once the weather conditions allow construction works. UNICEF prepared a proposal on medium term rehabilitation of pump stations in additional flood-affected sites, which will shortly be shared with donors.
18. EUPS Unit 2 has completed 40 per cent of the repair works for the water supply project. Pumphouse rehabilitation in Yonggwang county is complete, while pump installation and other related works are expected to be completed by the second week of December. Pongsan pump station rehabilitation were completed with spare parts provided by EUPS 1 and water supply to Pongsan town and Sariwon city resumed from this pumping station.
19. Partners agreed to check on distribution of calcium hypochlorite supplied by UNICEF in their respective areas of work and feed back on its use to UNICEF.
Food Security
20. WFP completed the second cycle of food distributions consisting of some 4,801 tonnes of cereals to all 37 counties targeted under the EMOP. WFP also delivered the 10,366 tonnes of food planned under the EMOP, with the exception of 32 tonnes of vegetable oil, which is planned for distribution in December.
21. WFP is in discussions with the Government on the modalities of the evaluation of the EMOP, scheduled to take place in January 2008. Under the evaluation, all 37 target counties will be re-visited by WFP international staff for interviews with beneficiaries and local government authorities on the impact of WFP food aid. With the evaluation visit, all counties will have been visited three times throughout the course of the operation.
Education
22. Procurement of emergency supplies as identified together with the MoE (classroom furniture - 13,105 sets benefiting 26,210 students; classroom stationery kits and recreational kits - to cover 35,000 children without classrooms and 261 damaged schools) is ongoing. Delivery of stationary and recreational kits is expected by the end of the year.
23. Monitoring visits by UNICEF staff have continued and covered all the counties where pre-positioned supplies were distributed. However, reliable information has to be channelled from national to county level in order to ensure that emergency supplies are appropriately used in the affected schools.
Agriculture
24. FAO completed a tender for procurement of 430 Metric Tonnes of barley seeds, 330 Metric Tonnes of urea fertilizer and 2,000 rolls of plastic sheeting that will soon be shipped to DPRK via Nampo Port.
25. The Ministry of Agriculture is working on a distribution plan for those inputs, with the aim of prioritizing the worst-affected farms, taking into consideration factors including availability of double-cropping areas and seed supplies.
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
26. The DPRK Flash Appeal for USD 14.1 million remains at the 83 per cent funding level, with a further USD 1.3 million in unconfirmed pledges. For additional updates on all sectors and donors, please refer to the OCHA Financial Tracking Service (FTS) website - http://Reliefweb.int/fts
27. This situation report, together with further information on ongoing emergencies, is also available on the OCHA-managed ReliefWeb website at http://www.reliefweb.int.
For detailed information please contact
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific,
Bangkok;
Mr. Markus Werne, Mob. +66 81 917 8940, Tel. +66 2288 2558
Ms. Amanda Pitt ,Mob. +66 81 374 1035,Tel. +66 2288 1195
Desk Officer:
(NY) Mr. Ivan Lupis, Tel. +1 917 367 5286
Press contact:
(NY), Ms. Stephanie Bunker, Tel. +1 917 367 5126
(GVA),Ms. Elizabeth Byrs,Tel. +41 22 917 2653