Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- The UN is concerned over warnings issued by Philippines’ authorities that volcanic eruptions on the country’s most populous island could last “days, months or even years”.
- It is “essential” for China to continue investigating the source of a previously unknown strain of coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Monday, following confirmation that an infected patient is being treated in Thailand.
- Raging bushfires wreaking havoc across Australia have prompted the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, to offer its support to the Australian Government and its partners which are battling the “unprecedented disaster”.
- The UN Secretary-General is "deeply concerned" that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has ended a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests, his spokesman said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
- More than 24 million bamboo poles have been harvested for construction projects in the enormous refugee settlement in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, thanks, in part, to support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
- The traditional cultivation of oyster mushrooms in Nepal, which has required burning large quantities of wood, has been replaced by the environmentally friendly use of solar power, thanks to a project supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
- Independent UN human rights experts condemned on Friday the death sentence of a university lecturer charged with blasphemy in Pakistan, calling the ruling "a travesty of justice".
- The decision to ensure that all babies born in Kazakhstan are registered at birth and issued birth certificates has been welcomed by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
- Only by ending the war in Afghanistan can there be “real hope” for a prosperous future for the country, the top UN official there said on Thursday.
- Independent United Nations human rights experts expressed apprehension on Thursday over the “incommunicado detention” of a Uyghur Muslim academic who has reportedly been sentenced to death.
- An endangered species of crane has been saved from extinction in Thailand, thanks to a project supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
- The search for peace will remain of “paramount importance” to Afghanistan as the country awaits the outcome of the recent presidential election, the top UN official in the country told the Security Council on Monday.
- A new law in India which expedites citizenship for certain religious minorities has been criticized by the UN human rights office for being “fundamentally discriminatory in nature.”