Asia Pacific

UN relief office gives $50,000 to help Philippines recover from floods and landslides

22 December 2003
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is providing an emergency grant of $50,000 to help relief efforts following the deadly landslides and floods that struck the Philippines on Friday.

UN urges humane solution for Afghans and Iraqis detained on Nauru

19 December 2003
With some of the hundreds of Afghans and Iraqis detained on the remote Pacific Island of Nauru staging a hunger strike, the United Nations refugee agency today appealed for a dignified response to "what is becoming a human tragedy."

New Zealand Prime Minister gets UN award for her efforts to end poverty

19 December 2003
New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark has received the Ceres Medal from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for what it described as her "commitment to promoting food security and international partnership."
Kofi Annan

Annan hails encouraging signs from Myanmar Government on national reconciliation

19 December 2003
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed recent encouraging signs from the Government of Myanmar on the national reconciliation process and urged that his Special Envoy be allowed to visit the country to help boost the participation of all parties concerned.
Afghan farmer with seeds

UN agency distributes seed and fertilizers to 60,000 Afghan families

18 December 2003
In an effort to boost food production in Afghanistan, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today it had distributed high quality seeds and fertilizers to some 60,000 Afghan farm families ahead of the new planting season.
Lakhdar Brahimi

UN envoy says more Afghan women should register to vote

18 December 2003
The senior United Nations envoy to Afghanistan has called for greater female participation in the country's electoral process after early results from voter registration show that six men are signing up for every woman.

WHO urges precautions in labs after worker in Taiwan, China, gets SARS

17 December 2003
The United Nations lead health agency today urged countries to ensure that correct biosafety procedures are being followed in laboratories after learning that a lab worker in Taiwan, Province of China, had been infected with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

UN team, Cambodia agree on issues related to establishment of Khmer Rouge court

17 December 2003
A United Nations team and the Government of Cambodia have agreed on a number of steps necessary to establish a court to try the ageing former leaders of the Khmer Rouge.

Woman elected to bureau of Afghanistan's Loya Jirga tribal council - UN

15 December 2003
One woman was named a Vice-Chair of Afghanistan's Constitutional Loya Jirga tribal council, which on its second day of work finished electing its bureau, the United Nations mission in the country reported today.
ASG Danilo Türk briefs the Council

Papua New Guinea: UN proposes reduced role in calmer Bougainville

15 December 2003
Responding to increased stability in Bougainville, the United Nations today proposed replacing its current presence with a smaller observer mission as the island heads towards the establishment of an autonomous government.