Following the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) government’s appeal for international assistance in 1995, a wide range of actors provided humanitarian and ‘light’ development assistance. The complex nature of a largely functioning but repressive state, limited capacities to deal with a protracted humanitarian crisis and the regime’s constant weighing of risks versus benefits shaped the space in which humanitarian projects were implemented. The decades-long interaction between the DPRK government and international aid actors has mainly been examined from the angle of institutional constraints such as strict state control, domestic regulations, restrictions of access to vulnerable groups and limited availability of data as well as international sanctions. While these factors continued to impact on the aid organisations’ activities, this presentation focuses on the institutional development and outcomes in the DPRK.

La présentation se fera en anglais et en français.