A/HRC/22/57 pressured the authorities to reopen the country to outside aid.15 Owing to this humanitarian crisis, some of the contributors of humanitarian aid changed their position and resumed provision of aid, particularly at the bilateral level. However, the Special Rapporteur noted that the World Food Programme (WFP) monitoring showed that progressive cuts had led to rations of 150 grams of cereals per person per day in June 2008, down from 450 grams in early 2008.16 13. According to the Special Rapporteur, in 2009 the aid situation became more desperate.17 Although in 2008, the offer by the United States of America of some 500,000 tons of food aid over a 12-month period was accepted by the country, and a group of United States (US) non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were permitted access to the country to help with the delivery, at the beginning of 2009, the country stopped accepting US aid and asked all the NGOs to leave. The Special Rapporteur noted that this was the result of “the authority‟s unease with the monitoring of the food aid process and the use of Korean interpreters from outside the country.” 18 14. In 2009, the Secretary-General took note of a range of reports indicated that the authorities had blocked access to alternative sources of food by forbidding kitchen farming in private households and closing down markets where food items were traded. In 2009, the Secretary-General concluded that the Democratic People‟s Republic of Korea was failing to fulfil its obligations under international human rights law to protect the right to adequate food.19 15. In March 2011, a United Nations survey found that more than six million vulnerable people urgently required international food assistance. In a report, released in November 2011, by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and WFP showed that many of the factors behind the shortage of food, including the adverse weather conditions, underdevelopment and structural problems, in the Democratic People‟s Republic of Korea had intensified.20 16. Moreover, in December 2011, the General Assembly noted a deterioration of the situation and expressed its “very deep concern at the precarious humanitarian situation including a serious deterioration in the availability of and access to food, in the country, partly as a result of frequent natural disasters, compounded by structural weakness in agricultural production resulting in significant shortages of food, and the increasing State restrictions on the cultivation and trade in foodstuffs, as well as the prevalence of chronic and acute malnutrition, particularly among the most vulnerable groups, pregnant women, infants and the elderly, which, despite some progress, continues to affect the physical and mental development of a significant proportion of children.” 21 Recommendations on the right to food 17. Since 2008, the Human Rights Council in its various resolutions has urged “the Government of the Democratic People‟s Republic of Korea to ensure safe and unhindered 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 E/CN.4/2006/35 paras 4-5; A/61/349. A/63/332, para 30 A/64/224 A/64/224, para 13 A/64/319, para 8 A/HRC/19/65, para 23 A/RES/66/174, para 3 15