Asia Pacific

UN development agency to help manage 'green corridor' in Bhutan

30 April 2003
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Bhutan today agreed to manage a protected "green corridor" through the Himalayan kingdom - where forest and mountain ecosystems will be preserved and the endangered Bengal tiger will be protected.
Dr. David Heymann

Senior UN health official welcomes Asian efforts to fight SARS

29 April 2003
Stressing that early detection and protection were two simple strategies that can contain Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a top United Nations health official today welcomed the “unprecedented efforts” made by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) against the new potentially deadly disease.

Timor-Leste midwives get UN motorcycles in bid to slash maternal mortality

28 April 2003
The United Nations has given Timor-Leste’s midwives 80 motorcycles in a bid to extend their reach to remote rural areas and cut the highest level of maternal deaths in the Asia and the Pacific region.

WHO experts find no under reporting of SARS in Shanghai

28 April 2003
A team of experts from the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded that the case burden of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Shanghai is not higher than officially reported, saying it found no evidence of systematic underreporting during a preliminary assessment.
UN Security Council in session

Slower pullout of UN troops will help security in Timor-Leste, Security Council told

28 April 2003
The head of the United Nations mission in Timor-Leste told the Security Council today that the new timetable for the gradual withdrawal of UN peacekeepers was critically important in addressing the criminally and politically motivated threats to security in that country.

UN welcomes inauguration of Afghanistan's constitutional commission

27 April 2003
Hailing the achievement of another political milestone in Afghanistan's transition to democracy, the United Nations today renewed its pledge of full support for the process.

Timor-Leste admitted to UN economic and social commission for Asia-Pacific

25 April 2003
Timor-Leste was admitted today to the regional arm of the United Nations responsible for promoting economic and social development through cooperation and integration in Asia and the Pacific.

Annan asks for 1-year extension of UN mission in Timor-Leste

25 April 2003
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appealed to the Security Council to extend for another year the mandate of the United Nations mission in Timor-Leste, where he says the security environment continues to deteriorate.
SARS coronavirus

WHO: Viet Nam could become first country to contain SARS

25 April 2003
No new cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) have been detected in Viet Nam for 17 days and if this continues until April 30, the country where the deadly new disease was first identified could also become the first to contain the outbreak, the United Nations health agency reported today.

UN teams with Southeast Asian States to fight drugs and crime

24 April 2003
The United Nations has joined forces with a coalition of Southeast Asian nations to map out a comprehensive strategy to combat drugs and crime in the region.