Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- In the summer of 2022, 70 Gambian babies and young children died from kidney failure after ingesting cough syrup spooned out by their caregivers. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global alert that four tainted paediatric products had originated in India, as local health authorities continue to investigate how this tragedy unfolded.
- Allowing space for everyone to speak up, is critical for a free and fully functioning society said the UN human rights chief on Friday, warning that a safe environment online has never been more essential.
- Humanitarians reached 5.4 million people in Ukraine with desperately needed aid by April this year, including cash assistance, food, health services, and medicines, the UN said on Friday.
- The food security situation in Yemen’s government-controlled districts “slightly improved” during the first five months of this year, but acute malnutrition is on the rise, UN agencies warned in a new report released on Friday.
- The UN convened the first ever global meeting with education ministers from around the world to explore risks and rewards of using chatbots in classrooms, announcing on Friday a new roadmap to chart a safer digital path for all.
- With hunger spreading worldwide and tobacco responsible for eight million deaths each year, countries should stop subsidizing tobacco crops and help farmers grow food, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
- The United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts “near-normal hurricane activity” in the Atlantic this coming storm season, said the UN weather agency on Friday, forecasting between five and nine major storms that could become hurricanes.
- The UN and humanitarian partners are mobilizing to reach as many people as possible while the stuttering ceasefire between warring military factions is being respected, said the UN Spokesperson on Thursday.
- UN Special Representative, Pramila Patten, expressed her ‘deep concern’ on Thursday over increasing allegations of sexual violence against women and girls being carried out in camps for the internally displaced (IDPs) around Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
- The UN political affairs chief on Thursday appealed for the Security Council to ensure reliable funding for African Union (AU) efforts towards greater peace and security on the continent.
- The UN’s 87,000-plus peacekeepers worldwide are “a beacon of hope and protection” for vulnerable civilians, in an increasingly dangerous and uncertain world, the UN chief said on Thursday, recognizing that last year, another 102 ‘blue helmets’ fell in the line of duty.
- One of the world’s most wanted genocide fugitives has been arrested after being on the run for more than two decades, the UN tribunal prosecuting war crimes committed in Rwanda announced on Thursday.
- New ideas must open fresh pathways towards finally ending the era of colonialism and to help advance sustainable development in the world’s 17 remaining colonies, the UN chief said in a video message to the Organization’s decolonization seminar in Bali, Indonesia
