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

Just two days ago, some three million Afghans faced the threat of terrorism and headed to the polls, to “vote not just for a president, but also for democracy,” Hamdulla Mohib, Afghanistan’s National Security Adviser told the UN General Assembly on Monday, adding that no matter the outcome of the elections, “peace is and will remain the Government’s priority.”

Lack of progress in achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula is “entirely attributable” to the United States, a senior official from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) told the UN General Assembly on Monday.

“The Twenty-First Century is often described as the age of disruption. The question is, are we ready for it?”, asked Thailand’s Foreign Minister, Don Pramudwinai, as he addressed the UN General Assembly on Monday.

Timor-Leste continues to be a reflection of “the best the UN has to offer,” Foreign Minister Dionisio da Costa Babo Soares declared on Monday before the UN General Assembly.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the conduct of presidential elections in Afghanistan on 28 September and commended all Afghans “who exercised their democratic voice and upheld their right to vote, braving security concerns”.

Myanmar is prioritizing the repatriation of scores of people who fled violence in northern Rakhine state for Bangladesh, a senior official from the country said on Saturday, the fifth day of debate in the UN General Assembly.

Despite global turbulence and economic uncertainty, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh told the General Assembly on Friday evening that her country has often been cited as a “development miracle”.

In his address to the  UN General Assembly on Friday, the State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China declared that his country will not ever be cowered by threats or subdued by pressure, when facing the headwinds of protectionism.

In a fiery address on Friday to the UN General Assembly, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan, warned of an all-out conflict with neighboring India, saying that there will be a “bloodbath” once India lifts its nearly two-month long curfew in disputed Kashmir.  

In his address to the UN General Assembly’s general debate on Friday, the Prime Minister of India outlined how the world’s largest democracy has embodied the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in its work towards “peace, development and progress in the world”.

Climate change is putting Pacific tuna fish stocks at risk, potentially creating an “economic Armageddon” for Nauru, President Lionel Aingimea warned the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas  could be transformed into an “international peace zone” and even included on a UN list of global cultural heritage, world leaders in the UN General Assembly heard on Tuesday. 

Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya who remain in Myanmar may face a greater threat of genocide than ever, amid Government attempts to “erase their identity and remove them from the country”, UN-appointed independent investigators said on Monday.