Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- In the aftermath of a devastating tropical storm in Sri Lanka, United Nations agencies are working to provide shelters and other emergency kits while seeking to contain a mosquito-borne disease that is starting to “spiral out of control.”
- Denouncing today's deadly attack on a peaceful funeral procession in Kabul as “morally reprehensible and bereft of humanity,” the top United Nations official in Afghanistan said that after a week of violence across the long-troubled country, “now is the time to seek unity and solidarity.”
- United Nations agencies are calling for urgent aid to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by Cyclone Mora, which swept across the Bay of Bengal earlier this week.
- Strongly condemning the nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development activities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United Nations Security Council today decided to apply existing sanctions to 14 individuals and four entities.
- The United Nations envoy for Afghanistan today called on protesters on the street of the nation's capital to use restraint and avoid violence, while expressing his understanding of their frustration over a string of terrorist attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians in recent months.
- Condemning the terrorist attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul, United Nations officials, including the Secretary-General and his Special Representative for the country as well as members of the Security Council underscored that all parties to the conflict are obliged, under international law, to ensure that civilians are protected from any harm.
- According to Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC), the South Asian country is combating floods and mudslides in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Mora, while the United Nations Migration Agency (IOM) today deployed three rapid assessment teams to the most affected districts, where some 177 people have died and 109 remain missing.
- The benefits of Myanmar's economic growth, reform and reconciliation efforts have not yet reached children in the country's remote, conflict-affected areas, leaving an estimated 2.2 million children in need of better humanitarian assistance, a United Nations report has revealed.
- Strongly condemning yesterday’s ballistic missile launch conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United Nations Security Council vowed to “fully and comprehensively implement all measures” imposed on the country and strongly urged all other UN Member States to do the same.
- A group of United Nations human rights experts today urged the Government of Indonesia to review and repeal its blasphemy law following the recent conviction and imprisonment of the former governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
- Deeply concerned by the continued increase in conflict-related child deaths in Afghanistan, the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMA) has urged parties to the conflict to take immediate measures to reduce harm.
- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today urged Pyongyang to return to the path of denuclearization saying the latest ballistic missile launch by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is a threat to peace and security in the region.
- Asian and Pacific countries are discussing economic cooperation and integration this week at the United Nations regional office in Bangkok, whose annual session focuses on how regional countries can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
