Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- While no one expects an overnight transition to democracy in Myanmar, there has to be real progress on human rights, an independent United Nations expert today said, highlighting reported killings, tortures, and an “ongoing humanitarian crisis” for the Rohingya people and other minorities.
- Four years on, Australia's offshore processing has left some 2,000 people languishing in unacceptable circumstances – causing physical and psychological harm, according to the United Nations refugee agency, which today called for an immediate end to the practice.
- A new pilot project in Pakistan to register undocumented Afghan refugees – who up to now have been without identity papers and living in fear of being arrested or deported – would allow up to one million people to have legal status, the United Nations refugee said.
- To meet the challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), India should prioritize women's empowerment and education, the United Nation's development chief in the country said.
- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres “is saddened” to learn of the large number of deaths and injured following today's explosion of an oil tanker truck in eastern Pakistan, his spokesperson has said.
- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres “is saddened” to learn of the loss of life and devastation caused by the landslide in China's southwestern province of Sichuan, his spokesperson said today.
- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned the twin bombing at a marketplace in Parachinar, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, and a suicide attack at a checkpoint in Quetta, Balochistan.
- An extreme drought followed by floods has affected large swathes of cropland in Sri Lanka, United Nations agencies reported today, warning that the disaster threatens the food security of some 900,000 people.
- Warning that the recent surge of violent attacks in Afghanistan could signal a much worse and more fragile period ahead, the United Nations envoy for the country today called for urgent action to strengthen stability, including through improving the Government's credibility, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and avoid violence.
- A United Nations human rights expert today urged the Government of Myanmar to do more to protect children in the country, citing cases of detention and alleged incidents of child labour and marriage.
- Expressing solidarity with Afghan people, in the wake of recent violence in the country, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today underscored the Organization's full commitment to work with the Government and people of the country to build a sustainable and prosperous future for them.
- Following last month's severe flooding and landslides in Sri Lanka that impacted some 630,000 people, the United Nations and humanitarian partners today launched an urgent appeal for more resources to reach those in the worst-hit parts of the country with urgent assistance.
- The Government of Vanuatu and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) are partnering to launch what may be the Pacific's first-ever trial of drones to deliver life-saving vaccines to inaccessible remote communities in the island nation.
