Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
The queue of women grows steadily outside a government clinic in Kuppiyawatta, in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. In just over half an hour the number swells to around 200. Pregnant women, some with children in hand, are waiting their turn to receive food vouchers from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) – part of its emergency food assistance response.
Major health risks are unfolding in Pakistan as unprecedented flooding continues, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Wednesday, warning of the threat of further spread of malaria, dengue fever and other water and vector-borne diseases.
- China responsible for ‘serious human rights violations’ in Xinjiang province: UN human rights report
A long-awaited report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) into what China refers to as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has concluded that “serious human rights violations” against the Uyghur and “other predominantly Muslim communities” have been committed.
A $160 million emergency plan to help Pakistan deal with devastating flooding has been launched by the United Nations, aiming to reach “5.2 million of the most vulnerable people in the country”.
- Humanitarians have stayed and delivered in Afghanistan in the year since the Taliban takeover, and it is imperative that the international community continues to do the same while the de facto authorities must also do their part, the Security Council heard on Monday.
- Myanmar is believed to be experiencing one of the highest rates of mangrove loss in the world. When a company bought land containing a mangrove forest in the country’s Tanintharyi region, with plans to convert it into prawn farms, the local community fought back.
- An expert on the human rights situation in Cambodia has issued a 10-point agenda for the authorities which calls for opening up political space and paving the way for democratic reform.
- Staple foods have become unaffordable, warned UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia, George Laryea-Adjei on Friday, who pointed out that severe malnutrition in crisis-wracked Sri Lanka was already among the highest in the region.
- On Thursday, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, warned of the danger faced by Afghan refugees who continue to be detained and deported from Tajikistan, reiterating that it’s illegal to force those fleeing persecution back to their homeland.
- It’s been five years since more than 700,000 ethnic Rohingya fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape a brutal military crackdown. The UN chief on Thursday called on the international community to find “comprehensive, durable and inclusive solutions” to help end their plight.
- This week marks five years since more than 700,000 ethnic Rohingya fled military persecution from Myanmar for neighbouring Bangladesh, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday, appealing to the international community for greater support.
- The UN human rights chief on Monday welcomed the announcement from the Prime Minister of Singapore, that the city State would move to repeal a law known as 377A, which for decades has criminalized sex between men.
- The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned on Thursday, a fatal attack on a Mosque in the capital, Kabul.