Asia Pacific

Richard Bennett of the human rights office (OHCHR) in Nepal (file Photo)

Increased violence could derail peace process in Nepal, UN cautions

11 June 2009
The United Nations human rights office in Nepal today expressed its concern that increased violence by political parties and affiliated groups, as well as subsequent retaliation threats, could jeopardize the peace process in the South Asian nation.

UN-backed trans-Asian rail agreement goes into effect

11 June 2009
A railroad agreement aimed at linking 28 countries in Asia and Europe went into effect today, the United Nations announced in Bangkok.
Staffan de Mistura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI),

Talks on contested northern Iraqi boundaries begins in Baghdad – UN

11 June 2009
Talks on disputed internal Iraqi boundaries – in the oil-rich, ethnically mixed north – have been launched, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) announced today.
More than 220,000 people live at the Menik Farm camp outside Vavuniya, northern Sri Lanka

Crucial for Sri Lankan Government to honour its promises, says Ban

11 June 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated how important it is for the Sri Lankan Government to follow up on the commitments it made last month after ending its military operation against Tamil rebels, and said he is writing to the country’s President on the matter.
Better housing conditions are a key priority for IDPs in camps in Pakistan

Pakistan aid effort needs urgent funding, Secretary-General says

11 June 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appealed to the international community, especially major donors, to respond quickly and generously to the urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs in Pakistan, where the United Nations is trying to assist more than 2.5 million uprooted by fighting.
UNHCR staff in Geneva hold a minute's silence for their slain colleague, Aleksandar Vorkapic

Pakistan: Ban ‘dismayed’ by terrorist attack killing two UN staff members

10 June 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed “dismay” today at the rising death toll from yesterday’s suicide bombing of a hotel in north-west Pakistan, which killed two United Nations staff members, and repeated his strong condemnation of the terrorist attack.
Crowded classrooms in temporary schools are a common sight in Myanmar's cyclone-affected Ayeyarwady Delta

Myanmar: education sector urgently needs funding boost, says UN

10 June 2009
Greater support for the educational sector in Myanmar is an urgent priority, a senior United Nations relief official said at a donors meeting, calling for more resources in the country’s schools, many of which were destroyed by last year’s devastating Cyclone Nargis.

Many women dying of unsafe abortions in Timor-Leste – new UN-backed report

9 June 2009
A new United Nations-supported report on maternal mortality, pregnancy and abortion in Timor-Leste shows that women may die because of unsafe abortions in the small nation.
A cultural orientation session in a refugee camp on the Thai/Myanmar border

UN assessing situation of Myanmar refugees in Thailand

9 June 2009
The United Nations refugee agency today said that it is looking into the situation of a group of several thousand Karen people who recently fled across the Moei River from Myanmar to Thailand.
Women visit UNFPA-supported clinic in Pakistan serving internally displaced persons (IDPs)

UN chief condemns terrorist attack in northern Pakistan

9 June 2009
Secretary-General Ki-moon strongly condemned today's deadly terrorist attack on a hotel in northern Pakistan, with a staff member of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) among those killed.