Asia Pacific

Myanmar: Annan's envoy urges release of democracy leader

2 October 2003
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy for Myanmar has urged its government to release detained democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials of her party, a UN spokesman said today.

Myanmar: UN envoy meets with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

1 October 2003
Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy to Myanmar met today with that nation's detained democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a United Nations spokesman confirmed.

UN envoy arrives in Myanmar seeking democracy leaders’ release

30 September 2003
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special envoy to Myanmar arrived in the South Asian country again today on a three-day mission in a bid to secure the release of detained democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials of her party.
High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers

UN refugee chief reaffirms commitment to Iraqi people

29 September 2003
The United Nations refugee agency opened its annual top level meeting today with a reaffirmation of its commitment to Iraq, where most international staff have been temporarily withdrawn, and a pledge to work closely with local authorities to help hundreds of thousands of displaced Iraqis eventually return home.

UN officials condemn killing of aid workers in Afghanistan

28 September 2003
United Nations officials in Kabul today deplored the murder of two Afghan aid workers who died of gunshot wounds near Kandahar earlier this week.

Inadequate plumbing likely contributed to spread of SARS in Hong Kong – WHO

26 September 2003
Inadequate plumbing likely contributed to the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in residential buildings in Hong Kong, according to a team of international experts led by the United Nations health agency.

UNICEF voices ‘grave concern’ at child trafficking in Afghanistan

25 September 2003
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today expressed “grave concern” over the reported abduction and trafficking to neighbouring countries of Afghan children, some as young as four, and called on the government to use “the full weight of the law” against those found responsible.

Ministers voice 'deep concern' over lawlessness in Afghanistan after talks at UN

25 September 2003
Insecurity and lawlessness, often as a result of arbitrary rule by local factions and continued drug trafficking, remain top concerns in Afghanistan as the worn-torn country seeks to build national government institutions, according to a statement issued after a high-level meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

UN rights chief asks both sides in Nepal to respect international law

25 September 2003
The Acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, today called on the Government of Nepal to "act swiftly" on a local investigation into a series of bloody incidents in the conflict in that country.

UN official lauds Viet Nam for reducing poverty by 40% since mid-1980s

24 September 2003
Marking the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) presence in Viet Nam, a senior agency official today praised the country for reducing poverty by 40 per cent and transforming itself “from a food-hungry nation to the second largest rice exporter in the world.”