The humanitarian organization UNICEF received permission this week from the UN Security Council (UNSC) to bypass global sanctions and bring otherwise banned supplies into North Korea for aid projects in the country, a letter posted to a UN website said Thursday.

The announcement comes amid ongoing concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic may have spread to the DPRK — despite Pyongyang’s repeated denials — along with repeated warnings from the United Nations about rampant food insecurity and malnutrition within the country.

UNICEF, which has multiple ongoing humanitarian projects in the DPRK and has already received two other