Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- The United Nations is "deeply troubled" by the recent missile launches of the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK), a UN spokesperson said today after one of the rockets, reportedly landed in or near Japanese waters for the first time.
- The United Nations human rights chief today expressed serious concern that Iraq has created a committee to accelerate implementation of death sentences.
- The United Nations human rights office said today it is shocked by video footage that has emerged from Don Dale youth detention centre in the Northern Territory in Australia, showing children as young as 10 years old – many of whom are Aboriginal children – being held in inhumane conditions and treated cruelly.
- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific today marked International Tiger Day with a call for urgent action to protect tigers and combat illegal trade in wildlife.
- United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and a group of UN rights experts today appealed to the Government of Indonesia to stop the reportedly imminent execution of a number of prisoners for alleged drug-related crimes.
- Voicing concern over the amended Child Labour Bill in India which could legitimize family work and further disadvantage children from poor families, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged the removal of certain provisions and establishing a robust monitoring mechanism with a thorough list of hazardous occupations for a stronger child protection framework.
- The United Nations human rights chief today expressed alarm at reports that up to 14 people face imminent execution in Indonesia, most of them for drug-related offences, calling on the authorities of “the most prolific executioner” in Southeast Asia to immediately reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty.
- The United Nations human rights expert on freedom of opinion and expression has condemned recent Government clampdown over public and social media expressions in Thailand ahead of a constitutional referendum scheduled for 7 August.
- In the first six months of this year, 5,166 civilians were either killed or maimed in Afghanistan, a half-year record since counting began in 2009, a United Nations report published today shows.
- Senior United Nations officials as well as the UN Security Council have strongly condemned an attack on a peaceful demonstration the Afghan capital that killed at least 80 people and injured more than 230 others, they also expressed deep condolences to the families of the victims.
- A key adviser to the United Nations children’s agency today decried the culture of impunity surrounding sexual violence against women and girls around the world, following a recent case of gang rape in India.
- The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today announced the elimination of yaws, and maternal and neonatal tetanus, to India and hailed its public health achievements as examples to other countries.
- When Dr. Oriol Mitjà, a Spanish technical adviser for the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), arrived in Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea, he expected to stay only a month. But after meeting hundreds of children covered in debilitating lesions, he stayed on, found a cure for their ailment, and spurred an international campaign that, if successful, will lead to the eradication of only the second disease in history.