Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- Three United Nations human rights experts today called on the Government of India to repeal a regulation that has been increasingly used to obstruct civil society's access to foreign funding.
- Heavy monsoon rains since the beginning of June have caused flooding in five states and regions of Myanmar, resulting in 14 deaths and affecting at least 26,000 people, a United Nations humanitarian coordinator reported today.
- Deeply concerned by reports of fighting on 12 and 13 June on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is on an official visit to Belgium, met in Brussels today with top officials from both the African countries, with the parties calling for maximum restraint.
- The United Nations envoy in Afghanistan today condemned an attack targeting civilians gathered for Friday prayers at the Hisarak Jami Mosque in Rodat district, in Nangarhar province.
- Warning that we are dangerously close to breaking the limit of how we should use oceans, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reunited with a Polynesian voyaging canoe crew who are using traditional methods to circumvent the world and highlight the importance of protecting our bodies of water.
- Officials in Eritrea have committed crimes against humanity, including enslavement, rape and torture, across the country over the past 25 years, according to a new report released today by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea.
- Just three weeks away from the World Humanitarian Summit in Turkey, the United Nations deputy chief today ended a three-day mission to Nepal after meeting with people affected by the 2015 earthquake as well as with senior government officials.
- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today that it is providing logistics support to Kumamoto prefecture in south-western Japan as part of assistance to people affected by strong earthquakes in April.
- The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kyung-wha Kang, wrapped up a three-day visit to Eritrea today, where she urged broader support for the Government's efforts to meet basic needs and build resilience of the country's most vulnerable communities.
- Expressing deep concern about the breakdown in the dialogue between Cambodia's main political parties, a United Nations expert today warned that any intensification of the current events could bring the country to a “dangerous tipping point,” especially regarding the human rights of the Cambodian people.
- Amid "grave global threats" looming large, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon today called for stronger partnerships between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the UN to achieve sustainable development, tackle climate change and eradicate human rights violations.
- “A very significant number” of Eritreans are fleeing a country “that is not in a situation of conflict or unrest” to seek a life free from fear, the head of a UN-appointed commission of inquiry on human rights in the east African nation told the UN General Assembly today.
- Following yesterday’s attack by the Taliban in the Afghan city of Kunduz, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights today urged both parties to the conflict to take all measures to protect civilians from harm.