Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) should begin to release political prisoners ahead of denuclearization talks with the United States and engage with the United Nations on human rights, a UN expert on the country said on Thursday.

The alleged extra-judicial killing of suspected drug offenders must be “immediately halted” and their perpetrators brought to justice, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said on Wednesday.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the understanding reached between UN agencies and Myanmar on creating conditions that would allow hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees to voluntarily and safely return to their homes in the country’s Rakhine province.

United Nations chief António Guterres has condemned Monday’s suicide attack in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, that reportedly killed at least seven religious scholars who had gathered from across the country to promote peace. 

Nearly 3.7 million Afghan children are missing out on school, due to on-going conflict, grinding poverty, and discrimination against girls, according to a new report from the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

United Nations agencies and Myanmar have agreed a framework which it is hoped will lead to the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, but only if their “voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable” return from camps in Bangladesh can be guaranteed.

He is best known for his bare-chested appearances at the Rio and Pyeongchang Olympic Games, but Pita Taufatofua now wants to use his social media muscle to empower youth, and get them to share their stories. 

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday that he was “deeply concerned” by the cancellation of the planned meeting between the leaders of the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly-known as North Korea.

Despite being the world’s 11th largest economy, a significant number of South Koreans are living in “substandard” housing, faced with rising rents they can no longer afford, a United Nations rights expert said on Wednesday, noting that the country now leads developed nations in levels of household debt.

A major canal dredging project underway in Southern Bangladesh to protect Rohingya refugees from monsoon floods, will have the added benefit of boosting local agriculture, the United Nations migration agency said Tuesday.

The United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) has called on the Algerian Government to stop collectively expelling thousands of migrants, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, saying it violates international human rights law.

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a record-high last year, leading to unprecedented levels of potential heroin on the world market, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a new report released on Monday.

Organized crime groups in Asia’s Mekong region have intensified the production and trafficking of highly-addictive methamphetamine, extending the illegal trade into countries such as Australia, Japan and New Zealand, senior drug policy leaders warned on Monday at a United Nations-backed regional conference.