Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- With collective will, compassion and humanity, world leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly Hall have what it takes to deal with complex and worsening global challenges, the Indonesian Vice-President declared on Thursday.
- If the leadership of North Korea follows a diplomatic path to end its nuclear weapons programme, then a “much brighter future lies ahead” for its people, the US Secretary of State told the Security Council on Thursday.
- Saying his country had turned a page with its unprecedented overtures to the militant Taliban opposition, Afghan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Wednesday called on the United Nations, the European Union and State partners to help promote a new Afghanistan in a country that has known nothing but conflict over the past four decades, with hundreds of thousands of casualties.
- Ensuring Sustainable development and surmounting the ‘devastating impacts’ of climate change were on the top of the agenda at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, where King Tupou VI of Tonga was joined by a host of other Pacific Island leaders calling for action on what they saw as “the defining issue of our time”.
- Addressing world leaders at the General Assembly’s annual general debate, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a strong case for free trade, highlighting its benefits for countries with little natural resources.
- Preliminary findings from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released on Tuesday, indicate that 12 women and children from a single family were killed in an airstrike that took place on Sunday, conducted by pro-Government forces.
- The United Nations on Monday commended “the commitment” to democracy in the Indian Ocean republic by voters in the Maldives, after opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih defeated incumbent Abdulla Yameen in Sunday’s presidential elections.
- On behalf of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, issued a statement on Friday, expressing the UN chief’s sadness over the passing of Viet Nam President Tran Dai Quang.
- Even though Afghans today have better prospects for a semblance of peace than at any time in the past few years, immediate risks facing the country can seriously jeopardize progress and derail aspirations for a peaceful, secure and prosperous Afghanistan, a senior United Nations official warned on Friday.
- The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, on Thursday welcomed the outcome of the third inter-Korean summit this year, and the “important agreements” contained in the Pyongyang Joint Declaration, issued by the leaders of the two Koreas.
- The peace agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia has raised hopes that improving human rights will be front and centre on Eritrea’s path forward, according to a United Nations Special Rapporteur on Tuesday.
- The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has welcomed the meeting between the Presidents of Djibouti and Eritrea, held on Monday in Saudi Arabia, as “yet another step in the consolidation of recent peace and security gains in the Horn of Africa region”.
- With parliamentary elections one month away and a major ministerial conference planned for November in Geneva, the United Nation’s Special Representative for Afghanistan briefed the Security Council on Monday, noting that “preparations are on track” but that many challenges lie ahead, including increased security concerns.