A view of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, an inter-Korean factory park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, as visible from a South Korean observatory in Paju, South Korea, on Oct. 25, 2018. Pool photo/EPA-EFE
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The United Nations has allowed shipment of humanitarian supplies to North Korea, including medical equipment, for a healthcare project.
The U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea has allowed a total of 35 items, worth $469,000, for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) project to combat tuberculosis and malaria and for vaccination in the reclusive country under heavy sanctions, VOA reported.
In August, the UNICEF asked the committee to make exemptions on medical supplies, necessary to carry out its humanitarian activities in the North to tackle tuberculosis and malaria and to vaccinate children.
The U.N. Security Council approved some of the items requested by the UNICEF for its North Korea project last month, releasing a list of the approved items. The list offers details of the items, including cost, departure and arrival points and its usage.
The approved goods include an X-ray equipment that cost $74,189. It is expected to depart a port in Copenhagen to the North Korean port of Nampo, via the Chinese port of Dalian.
Another item is a refrigerated truck that will transport vaccines and medicines that could vaccinate 355,000 children and prevent diseases for some 362,000 pregnant women.
The Committee for United Nations sanctions adopted guidelines aimed to facilitate humanitarian assistance to North Korea in August. According to the committee, states, international and non-governmental organizations can request exemptions from sanctions on North Korea in their humanitarian assistance efforts.