UN / DPRK AMOS

Just back from her week-long visit to the DPRK, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said that "Koreans are proud people" and that she saw a country and people coping "despite some really tough conditions, at the same time people freely explained to me the very real problems they faced." UNTV / RECENT

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:36
• Production Date: 26 October 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS - OCHA
• Subject Topical: ECONOMIC CONDITIONS; NUTRITION
• Geographic Subject: DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
• MAMS Id: U111026e

Description

STORY: UN / DPRK AMOS
TRT: 2:36
SOURCE: UNTV / OCHA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 26 OCTOBER 2011 NEW YORK CITY / RECENT

Shotlist

RECENT – UNTV – NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations

UNTV – 26 OCTOBER 2011, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Amos on panel
3. Cutaway, press
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
“The poor nutritional mix, people survive on maize, they get some rice if they are very lucky and cabbage, has led to high levels of malnutrition particularly among children. Recent figures for children under five years of age show chronic malnutrition levels i.e. stunting at 33 percent nationwide and 45 percent in the north of the country."

RECENT - OCHA 2 OCTOBER 2011, PYONGYANG DPRK

5. Various shots, Amos meeting with Vice-Minister of Public Health at Mansudae Assembly Hall

UNTV - 26 OCTOBER 2011, NEW YORK CITY

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
"Koreans are a proud people, during the field visit I was usually shown the best rather than the worst. I saw a country and people coping despite some really tough conditions, at the same time people freely explained to me the very real problems they faced."

RECENT - OCHA 20 OCTOBER 2011 HAMHUNG, DPRK

7. Pan left, Amos shown food preparation in kitchen at paediatric hospital
8. Various shots, bags of food and WFP biscuits at medical warehouse

UNTV - 26 OCTOBER 2011 NEW YORK CITY

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
"The most vulnerable people are victims of a situation that they have no control over and find themselves in distress through no fault of their own. For this reason we are not in a position to turn our back on the people of the DPRK, despite the many difficulties that I have outlined."

RECENT - OCHA 20 OCTOBER 2011 HAMHUNG, DPRK

10. Various shots, Amos visiting little girl at paediatric hospital
11. Various shots, Amos visiting with children playing games

UNTV - 26 OCTOBER 2011 NEW YORK CITY

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations:
"In my view there is too much dependence on talking about this year as being special because they made an appeal and one of the points that I raised is that if you look back over the last few years the deficit in terms of the amount food produced in North Korea is about a million metric tons. So this why I say there is a structural problem here."

RECENT – OCHA 20 OCTOBER 2011, HAMHUNG, DPRK

13. Various shots, Amos visiting with small children from orphanage

Storyline

Upon her return from a landmark five-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos today (26 October) highlighted the resilience of the North Korean people who are “coping despite some really tough conditions.”

Amos noted that a “poor nutritional mix” of maize, cabbage and “rice, if they are very lucky” has led to high levels of malnutrition “particularly among children.”

Recent figures, she said, indicate that children under five years of age show “chronic malnutrition levels”.

More than 6 million people urgently need food assistance with chronic malnutrition levels at 33 per cent nation-wide, and 45 per cent in the north of the country.

During her visit Amos met with DPRK government officials, UN agencies, NGOs, donors, and members of the diplomatic community in Pyongyang, and spent two days on a field visit to South Hamgyong and Kangwon provinces to see some of the challenges on the ground.

The Emergency Relief Coordinator said that Koreans are a “proud people” and although they described to her “the very real problems they faced”, during her field visit she was usually shown “the best rather than the worst.”

She called for continued support for the most vulnerable people in the DPRK as they are “victims of a situation that they have no control over and find themselves in distress through no fault of their own.”

Rations provided via the country's Public Distribution System fell from 400 grams per person per day in March 2011 to around 200 grams per person per day in July, and have stayed around that level since then, further deepening the hardship experienced by ordinary people in the DPRK.

Amos said that the problems were “structural” noting that over the last few years the deficit in terms of the amount food produced in North Korea is about a million metric tons.

During a series of visits to hospitals, an orphanage, a communal farm and a local market, she spoke with health workers, mothers, local officials, aid officials, and visited a family being assisted by World Food Programme. Amos also visited a public distribution centre, a biscuit factory, and a medical warehouse.