Asia Pacific

Divided UN Security Council agrees to focus on situation in Myanmar

15 September 2006
In a landmark decision today, the United Nations Security Council voted by 10 votes to four against with one abstention to focus on the situation in the isolated Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, where democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for over 10 of the past 16 years.

UN takes over policing activities in Timor-Leste

14 September 2006
Less than three weeks after the Security Council approved an expanded mission in Timor-Leste, the United Nations Police (UNPOL) there has assumed command of national policing in the fragile country.

UN agencies coordinate aid for thousands of flood-hit Nepalese

14 September 2006
Families affected by the floods and landslides that have hit Nepal this year are receiving assistance thanks to a coordinated effort by United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Nepal Red Cross Society.

UN immunization drive in Afghanistan aims to reduce child and maternal deaths

13 September 2006
A newly launched United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) immunization campaign in Afghanistan aims to reduce child measles mortality by 90 per cent and to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.

UN food agency battles bad weather and landslides to reach hungry in Nepal

13 September 2006
As part of a major operation to feed tens of thousands of flood survivors in Nepal, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has battled bad weather and landslides to help an estimated 8,150 people in the western Banke District.

India changes from big aid recipient into major donor, UN food agency says

13 September 2006
Once a country just on the receiving end of international assistance, India is playing an increasing and important role in assuring food security for South Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, a senior official of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said following meetings with the country’s Government.

Contractor for UN human settlements agency murdered in Afghanistan

13 September 2006
An independent contractor working in Afghanistan for the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT) was murdered yesterday when unknown assailants opened fire on his vehicle, a senior UN official in the country said today, deploring the killing.

Timor-Leste: UN commissioners near completion of probe into violence

13 September 2006
The United Nations Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste is close to finishing its report into the violence earlier this year that engulfed the country, causing 37 deaths and forcing more than 150,000 people – or about 15 per cent of the national population – to flee their homes.

Security Council members condemn spate of suicide bombings in Afghanistan

12 September 2006
Members of the Security Council have added their collective voices to a growing chorus of United Nations officials condemning rising terrorist violence in Afghanistan.

NATO forces in Afghanistan should do more to curb drug trade, UN official says

12 September 2006
The head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) today called for a robust military action by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces to destroy the opium industry in southern Afghanistan.