WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by country | Page 254

Standard Project Report 2016
Progress Towards Gender Equality
DPRK has many notable achievements in the area of gender equality, however it is evident that some fundamental
inequalities persist. For example, while equal numbers of girls and boys enrol in primary and secondary school, girls
comprise only 28 percent of tertiary level enrolments. Female university students also tend to pursue careers in
what are considered traditionally appropriate fields for women, such as education, health and welfare. As such,
managers and employees at the children's institutions that WFP supports are almost always women. There is no
gender inequality index for DPRK, as official data about gender inequality are limited. WFP has also been unable to
carry out detailed gender analysis due to political sensitivities.
Under PRRO 200532, WFP DPRK delivered food assistance directly to pregnant and lactating women as a priority
group. The project was assessed to have a gender marker of 1, which means it has “potential to contribute in a
limited way” to gender equality [5]. In 2016, women comprised 87.6 percent of WFP's adult beneficiaries and
59.5 percent of WFP beneficiaries overall.
WFP continued to encourage the Government and local stakeholders to assign more women to leadership roles in
food for community development (FFCD) projects. In 2016, 63.8 percent of FFCD participants were women. The
percentage of female team leaders was 79 percent, an increase of 23 percent compared to 2015. WFP also
prioritised female participants during the distribution of equipment such as boots and gloves. WFP found that men
and women had equal access to project benefits. As women are always the ones who consume less food
when there is a food shortage in the household, food assistance through FFCD projects has improved food security
in families, particularly for women.
Based on lessons learned from PRRO 200532, the WFP DPRK country office introduced additional measures to
promote and measure progress towards gender equality under its new PRRO 200907.
[5] IASC Gender Marker, August 2012.
Protection and Accountability to Affected Populations
WFP field monitors conducted regular visits to households, children's institutions, hospitals and other locations
where WFP food rations were distributed. International field monitors ensured that operations were running as per
agreements, protocols and standards. During visits, monitors were able to confirm that WFP rations had been
received, and were being stored and used correctly. Field monitors were also able to share advice on the
importance of healthy diets, food safety and good nutrition practices. These meetings were also good opportunities
for WFP to receive feedback from beneficiaries, and to answer any questions.
In 2016, field monitors found no indication of safety problems encountered by beneficiaries while travelling to, from
or at programme sites. Visits to households confirmed that women and men participating in WFP programmes faced
no safety issues.
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (KP)
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Single Country PRRO - 200532