Asia Pacific

UN agency joins Mongolia's efforts to safeguard vast, unique environments

25 August 2003
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Mongolian Government today signed an agreement to support sustainable development and environmental protection in the fabled Asian country.

New UN-backed peace commission in Afghanistan to help settle local disputes

24 August 2003
The United Nations is backing a peace commission in northern Afghanistan that is bringing together members of different factions in a bid to resolve conflicts without violence, a UN spokesman said today in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

China: UN team on potential presence of SARS virus in animals issues guidelines

22 August 2003
A joint team of specialists from two United Nations agencies and the Chinese Government has recommended boosting regulations in the farming, trading and consumption of wildlife to shield against a possible animal reservoir of the virus that causes the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

UN-assisted commission collects 120 weapons in northern Afghanistan

21 August 2003
In a voluntary disarmament exercise by key Afghan factions, a United Nations-assisted security commission has collected 120 light and heavy weapons in the northern region of the country, a flashpoint for tensions between rival militias.

UN team in China to investigate potential presence of SARS virus in animals

20 August 2003
A joint team of specialists from two United Nations agencies is in China to assist the government to design further investigations into a possible animal reservoir of the virus that causes the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Afghanistan: UN-assisted commission begins disarmament of flashpoint region

18 August 2003
A United Nations-assisted security commission has left on a mission to disarm a northern region of Afghanistan that has been a flashpoint for tensions between rival militias.

Annan urges Pacific region countries to keep working with UN to prevent conflict

18 August 2003
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged island countries in the Pacific region to continue collaborating with the world body, particularly in preventing conflict, and cited the crisis in the Solomon Islands as a "challenge of immediate concern."

Afghanistan: UN envoy condemns attacks on aid workers, vows continued relief effort

17 August 2003
The chief United Nations envoy in Afghanistan today deplored a recent "brutal and premeditated" deadly attack on aid workers, but affirmed that the relief drive will continue.

Afghanistan sets record for cereal harvest but many still need food aid – UN report

14 August 2003
Afghanistan will reap its largest cereal harvest on record this year thanks to good rainfall and better access to seeds and fertilizers, but many households will still need humanitarian assistance as they continue to suffer the impact of a severe drought and two decades of civil strife, two UN food agencies reported today.

UN agencies support Afghan Government campaign to disinfect 17,500 wells

14 August 2003
The Afghan Government, with support from three United Nations agencies, is set to chlorinate a total of 17,500 shallow wells in the country’s capital Kabul in an effort to reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal disease and the risk of other water related illnesses.