Politics

Five years ago, the Third Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea held in June 2021 brought up the issue of improving and intensifying the childcare policy as an important agenda item.

The following year, the Sixth Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK adopted the law on childcare which stipulates that the state shall establish a well-knit children’s nutritious food production and supply system, supply all children with nutritious foods like dairy products for free and in a regular way and provide them with best conditions for their upbringing.

This has provided a firm legal guarantee for the implementation of the new childcare policy and brought about many changes in the country over the past five years.

The state is directly responsible for all the funds and materials needed for the production and supply of dairy products and other nutritious foodstuffs for children, and all the undertakings from the establishment of the foundations of milk production units to the improvement of the quality of dairy products are organized and implemented under the concern and unified guidance of the state.

Since the Third Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK, many goat and milch cow farms and branch farms have been newly built or expanded in capacity across the country, and many cities and counties have laid foundations for supplying dairy products to the children in their regions on a normal basis.

The nationwide system and order of supplying dairy products to all children across the country, whether they are in the capital or regional areas, have been further improved. Accordingly, provinces, cities, counties and relevant units got hold of the number of pre-school children and confirmed the necessary amount of dairy products. Meanwhile, a well-regulated system and order have been established to quickly and accurately grasp the daily supply of dairy products from the lowest units to the central guidance organ related to the supply.

A remarkable change was also witnessed in the growth of children across the country.

A survey on children’s nutrition evaluation indexes conducted according to age groups at the end of the year after the enforcement of the new childcare policy showed that the height and weight of children at the age of 3-6 increased over the previous year.

Another survey on the growth and development of children the following year found that the overall immunity of children was boosted and, especially, the nutritional conditions of children in rural areas were constantly improving.

The foundations for milk production are being further strengthened as large-capacity goat farms are built in different parts of the country and high-performance facilities are newly installed there.