Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- Prospecting used to be about digging up gold and other minerals. Today “bioprospecting” is allowing countries to use the natural riches at their disposal, for the production of pharmaceuticals, and other commercially viable products.
- In the face of record food price inflation, skyrocketing fuel costs and widespread commodity shortages, some 6.26 million Sri Lankans, or three in 10 households, are unsure of where their next meal is coming from, according to the latest food insecurity assessment from the World Food Programme (WFP), released on Wednesday.
- The UN human rights chief called on Tuesday for a prompt, impartial and “transparent investigation” into the deaths of at least 18 people during clashes at protests in the Uzbek region of Karakalpakstan last Friday.
- The situation for women is so desperate in Afghanistan that they are committing suicide at a rate of one or two every day, the Human Rights Council has heard.
- Myanmar’s military junta is responsible for shocking violence against children caught up in the bloody aftermath of last February’s coup, a top independent Human Rights Council-appointed investigator said on Wednesday.
- The top UN official in Afghanistan appealed on Sunday for greater international support for the country, following a one-day visit to communities hit hard by the devastating earthquake on Wednesday.
- Emergency lifesaving aid relief continued to flow into quake-hit eastern Afghanistan on Friday, as UN humanitarians and partners rushed to help the most vulnerable communities.
- The devastating earthquake on Wednesday is just one of several emergencies facing Afghanistan, and continued dialogue with the Taliban de facto authorities remains the only way to address ongoing challenges in the country, the Security Council heard on Thursday.
- The UN human rights office, OHCHR, is urging Iran to call off plans to amputate the fingers of eight prisoners convicted of burglary, Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Wednesday.
- The UN and partners have rushed to support Afghanistan following a devastating earthquake that hit two provinces in the east of the country early on Wednesday morning.
- The World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday began distributing food vouchers to pregnant women in underserved districts of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, marking the start of the UN agency’s emergency response in the country, which is facing its gravest political and economic crisis since independence.
- As the UN marks the International Day of Family Remittances on Thursday, there is concern that economic contraction and job losses in Russia - likely to now rise further as a result of sanctions imposed since the invasion of Ukraine - are already having an impact on remittance-dependent communities in Central Asia, according to experts with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
- The Afghanistan people are experiencing some of “the darkest moments” in a generation the UN human rights chief told Human Rights Council on Wednesday.