Asia Pacific

People in Sindh and elsewhere in Pakistan face floods again.
IRIN/Abdul Majeed Goraya

Toll from Pakistani rains mounts as flooding spreads, UN reports

14 September 2011
The toll from torrential rains in Pakistan is mounting, with 230 people killed, more than 300,000 others displaced and 1.1 million homes destroyed or damaged as flooding has inundated 4.5 million acres, cutting major roads and polluting water, the United Nations reported today.
UNDP Associate Administrator Rebeca Grynspan.
UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras

UN joins China in launching new small-business fund to empower women

14 September 2011
The United Nations joined Chinese groups today in launching a new small-business fund that seeks to further empower women in the world’s most populous country.
IDP settlement near Putumattalan Hospital in second No Fire Zone, March 2009

Ban forwards report on Sri Lanka war crimes to top UN human rights body

13 September 2011
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has sent the report of his panel of experts on accountability issues during the final stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka to the United Nations human rights chief and the President of the Human Rights Council.

Nepal: UN calls for no pardons or impunity in cases of human rights abuses

13 September 2011
Hailing the Nepalese Government’s commitment to establish long awaited transitional justice mechanisms to address the abuses of its decade-long civil war, the United Nations today warned against granting pardons or case withdrawals that would violate international human rights law.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
UN Photo/JC McIlwaine

Secretary-General condemns ‘abhorrent’ attack on Pakistani school bus

13 September 2011
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced shock and condemnation at today’s attack on a school bus in north-western Pakistan which resulted in a number of deaths and injuries.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano (centre) addresses Board of Governors in Vienna

After Japanese reactor accident, UN agency pledges to restore faith in nuclear power

12 September 2011
The United Nations atomic energy agency today pledged to play a central role in restoring public faith in nuclear power after this year’s disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant, which is projected to slow the growth in the use of such electricity generating reactors.
People in Sindh and elsewhere in Pakistan face floods again.
IRIN/Abdul Majeed Goraya

With torrential rains exacerbating Pakistani floods, UN ramps up food and health aid

12 September 2011
The United Nations is set to feed 500,000 flood victims in Pakistan and has pre-positioned medicines to cover 1.2 million people as torrential rains continue to exacerbate the crisis, reportedly killing nearly 200, displacing 220,000 others and affecting over 5 million more.

Palau becomes newest Member State of UN maritime agency

12 September 2011
Palau has become the latest country to join the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO), the agency responsible for promoting safe and secure shipping and the prevention of marine pollution from ships.
The UN team at the start of Tour de Timor in Dili, 11 September 2011

In Timor-Leste, UN cyclists join contest to promote peace

11 September 2011
One of the world's most gruelling bicycle races started today from the capital of Timor-Leste, bringing together 450 participants, including 15 United Nations staff, who are taking on a six-day, 500-kilometre-long challenge across the country's unforgiving terrain.
Victims of last year’s floods walk the water-filled streets of the city of Nowshera

UN agencies begin relief campaign as flood waters swamp southern Pakistan

10 September 2011
United Nations humanitarian agencies have begun to assist communities in southern Pakistan that have been pummelled by monsoon rains which have claimed the lives of almost 200 people and destroyed or damaged nearly one million homes in an area still recovering from last year''s catastrophic floods.