Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- The United Nations envoy for Afghanistan today highlighted both the visible progress the conflict-torn country has made and the challenges lie ahead, urging the Government to redouble efforts while calling for continued international political and financial support.
- A group of UN human rights experts has urged the Government of Viet Nam to immediately release a popular blogger, known as Mother Mushroom, who has been detained since October last year.
- Expressing strong condemnation of the most recent ballistic missile launches carried out by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United Nations Security Council reiterated that the country should refrain from any actions, including nuclear tests, in violation of the relevant Council resolutions, and comply fully with its obligations under those resolutions.
- The United Nations Security Council and the UN mission in Afghanistan have condemned today's terrorist attack on a military hospital in Kabul for which the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) claimed responsibility.
- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned the reported firing of ballistic missiles today by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), three of which landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
- The slow pace of transitional justice in Sri Lanka and the lack of a comprehensive strategy to address accountability for past crimes risk derailing the momentum towards lasting peace, reconciliation and stability, a United Nations report said today.
- Strongly condemning yesterday's terrorist attacks in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the United Nations Security Council underscored the need to bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of such “reprehensible” acts to justice.
- The United Nations human rights office today urged the Government of Thailand to criminalize enforced or involuntary disappearance and torture.
- The United Nations human rights office today urged the Government of Thailand to criminalize enforced or involuntary disappearance and torture.
- Concluding a four-day visit to parts of Bangladesh where she met with members of Myanmar's Rohingya community who fled the violence there following attacks on a border post in early October and the ensuing military operations, a United Nations expert called for urgent action by the Government of Myanmar to end the suffering of the Rohingya population in the country.
- The United Nations has condemned the terrorist attack on worshippers at a Sufi shrine in Sehwan, in Sindh, Pakistan, today, which reportedly left dozens dead and hundreds injured, and for which the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) has claimed responsibility.
- Sri Lanka is making efforts to achieve zero hunger and zero undernutrition, having launched a national review of food security and nutrition with the United Nations emergency food relief agency.
- Methamphetamine is increasingly being seized by law enforcement in Afghanistan, and there is also evidence that it is being produced in the country, according to the first of its kind assessment on synthetic drugs released today by the United Nations drug and crime agency.