MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th December, 2019) Russia has donated $4.8 million to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) program to reduce child morbidity and mortality rates in North Korea, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang said on Wednesday.
"On December 25th, Ambassador A. Matsegora met Ambassador-at-large of the DPRK Foreign Ministry Lee Hyun Sik, who is in charge of international organizations, and passed him a note that informs the DPRK Government of the following. In accordance with the decree of the Russian Government, there was made a decision to sponsor the UNICEF project 'Reduction of Child Morbidity and Mortality through Preventive and Curative Health Intervention in DPR Korea.' Its total budget amounts to 4.8 million USD," the embassy said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Lee promised to swiftly report this to his government.
Last year, according to the CIA World Factbook, the total infant mortality rate in North Korea was 21.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, making it 75th in the agency's list of 224 countries.
