UNICEF Seeks $18 Million for Children in North Korea

UNICEF is seeking $18 million in relief funds to help about 25,000 children in North Korea who are suffering from severe and acute malnutrition.

The children are believed to have been impacted by last year’s drought, which cut crop production by a fifth the Guardian reports. Aid workers are also grappling with an increase in diarrhea among children under the age of 5 in drought-affected areas, lack of access to clean water and tens of thousands of children in need of immediate treatment of malnutrition.

“The impact of this will continue into 2016. Cereal rations were reduced, impacting the nutritional and health status of women and children,” UNICEF said in a statement.