Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- Asian and Pacific countries are discussing economic cooperation and integration this week at the United Nations regional office in Bangkok, whose annual session focuses on how regional countries can achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- The destruction of forests in many Asian countries continues apace, threatening the realization of global sustainable development goals by the 2030 deadline, according to the United Nations agricultural agency.
- Speaking at a major international conference in Beijing, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today drew comparisons between China's 'One Belt, One Road' initiative and the Sustainable Development Goals, saying both are rooted in a shared vision for global development.
- Notwithstanding the challenges faced by countries in Asia and Pacific, the region has witnessed economic and social achievements beyond expectations over the past 70 years, according to the head of the United Nations body assisting with development efforts.
- The United Nations human rights chief today announced that the Central Asian branch of his Office will extend its coverage to Uzbekistan now that an agreement is in place, highlighting that the country is “at a crossroads.”
- Raising alarm over the impact of internet and social media restrictions imposed by authorities in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, United Nations human rights experts have called on the Government to protect the right to freedom of expression and to pursue an open and democratic dialogue to address the region's social and political conflicts.
- A group of United Nations human rights experts have “strongly” condemned the murder of a prominent journalist and human rights defender in Maldives and called on the authorities to conduct a public inquiry into the killing and bring those responsible to justice.
- Raising alarm over moves to impeach the Chief Justice of Nepal – who has been instrumental in a number of high-profile and politically sensitive decisions – the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, warned today that such actions suggest a concerted attempt by the Government to undermine the independence of the judiciary.
- The tens of thousands of members of Myanmar’s Rohingya community who fled inter-communal violence in north of the country and sought refuge in Bangladesh remain highly vulnerable and risk being “re-victimized even in exile” unless urgent action is taken, a senior United Nations refugee protection official has warned.
- The Government of the Philippines and a rebel group with which it signed a peace accord have made progress in ending and preventing the recruitment of children on the southern island of Mindanao, according to a new United Nations report.
- With an unprecedented 600,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan last year, the United Nations migration agency has completed an assessment of border management capacity at Afghanistan’s two main border crossings with Pakistan.
- 'Broadly positive' outlook for Asia-Pacific threatened by rising global uncertainty, warns UN reportWarning that despite a broadly positive economic outlook for 2017, Asia-Pacific economies are vulnerable to rising global uncertainty and trade protectionism, the United Nations social and economic development arm in the region has called for better governance and stronger fiscal management to sustain and improve economic growth.
- Korean Peninsula: Conflict prevention 'our collective priority' but onus also on DPRK, says UN chiefPreventing armed conflict in north-east Asia is the international community's collective priority while the onus is also on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to refrain from further nuclear testing and explore the path of dialogue, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council today.