A/HRC/43/58 The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the outside world should be prepared to respond and the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea should allow full and unimpeded access to medical experts and humanitarian actors, and relax restrictions on access to information. III. Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea A. Economic and social rights 6. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, recognizes the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself or herself and his or her family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, and obliges States parties to take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international cooperation based on free consent. 7. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has stressed the chronic nature of food insecurity and malnutrition in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as well as the lack of access to life-saving essential services.3 Moreover, it has highlighted that in April 2019 only 7 per cent of the surveyed population had acceptable food consumption, which was 13 per cent lower than five months earlier.4 Diarrhoea and pneumonia remained the two main causes of death among children under 5 years of age. About 39 per cent of the population does not have access to a safely managed water source and 16 per cent does not have access to basic sanitation facilities.5 In 2020, 10.8 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian assistance. Given the expectations of a below-average crop production, the overall food security situation is not expected to improve in 2020.6 The Government reportedly guarantees the public distribution system only to certain key professions and to the population in Pyongyang as well as cities where tourism projects are being developed. Outside of those areas, the population has to find ways of earning a living, while also working in State-assigned employment where salaries are insufficient to meet basic needs. 8. Owing to the lack of conditions necessary to fulfil the right to favourable conditions of work with adequate remuneration,7 many people, mainly women, engage in small-scale commercial activities in informal markets (jangmadang). The growth of informal markets throughout the country has led to the emergence of economically powerful entrepreneurs, known as donju, who control the supply of goods from China and other key economic activities. Reports indicate an increase in conflicts of interest between the donju and officials, including in areas related to State construction projects and the supply of materials. Although the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has initiated partial reforms to accommodate the new reality of private economic activities, such activities are still conducted in a legal grey area,8 which compromises basic human rights. Without systematic reform, the tension between officials and the emerging entrepreneurial class may lead to instability, harm people’s economic activities and more broadly have a negative impact on the development of the country.9 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 4 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Global Humanitarian Overview 2020, p. 66. Ibid. The Special Rapporteur has encouraged both the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation to interact and arrange a country mission. FAO, Crop Prospects and Food Situation, Quarterly Global Report, December 2019, p. 26. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 7. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “The price is rights: the violation of the right to an adequate standard of living in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, 2019, pp.16–17. See A/HRC/40/66.