Asia Pacific

IDPs fleeing Orakzai Agency near the Pakistan-Afghan border.
IRIN/Abdul Majeed Goraya

'Suffering an enormous human cost', civilian casualties up nearly 20 per cent in 2014 – UN

19 December 2014
Civilian casualties in Afghanistan increased by nearly 20 per cent in 2014 compared to the previous year and are expected to rise to a figure over 10,000 by end of December – for the first time since the UN mission in the country began keeping record in 2008.
Montagnard refugees in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
UNHCR/A. Wahjanto

Cambodia: ‘Substantial grounds’ to believe Montagnards may be in danger, UN warns

19 December 2014
The United Nations agencies responsible for human rights and refugees are voicing concern today over the health and well-being of 13 Vietnamese Montagnards who have been hiding in the Cambodian jungle for more than seven weeks with no access to assistance or protection.
Children at a home in north eastern Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
UNICEF/Gopalan Balagopal

General Assembly decides to refer UN report on human rights in DPR Korea to Security Council

18 December 2014
Condemning “ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights” in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution today by which it would transmit a UN-backed report probing such violations to the Security Council.
A view of the destruction caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004 in Point Pedro, a small fishing village in northern Sri Lanka.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Asia-Pacific report: World’s most disaster prone region experiences three-fold rise in deaths

18 December 2014
Asia and the Pacific is the world’s most natural disaster-prone area and accounts for more than 60 per cent of the world’s hungry people, but continues to drive the global economic recovery, according to the United Nations Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2014, released today.
UNODC's Yury Fedotov (left) and UNAMA's Nicholas Haysom address the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security.
UN Photo/Amanda Voisard/Mark Garten

Afghanistan: UN officials urge reforms, fight against drug trade to ensure country’s security

18 December 2014
As Afghanistan builds upon recent political developments, including the formation of a unity government, the country’s authorities and the international community must not ignore the immense challenges that lie ahead, from simmering insecurity to an escalating drug crisis, two senior United Nations officials declared today during their briefing to the Security Council.
Under Secretary-General Gyan Chandra Acharya (center) at the Nepal Ministerial Meeting.
UN-OHRLLS

In Nepal, UN meeting seeks to boost development ranking of Asia-Pacific’s poorest nations

16 December 2014
A United Nations-backed meeting focusing on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of Asia and the Pacific kicked off today as international delegates, UN officials and Government ministers embarked on discussions over how to help the region’s poorest nations “graduate” to a higher level of development.
Caption: A skilled birth attendant (midwife) consults with her patient in rural Nepal. World Bank/Aisha Faquir

UN Asia-Pacific forum begins registration, statistics partnership to improve data, policies

16 December 2014
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has announced its involvement in an international partnership to improve civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems in the Asia-Pacific region.
Pupil of a primary school class in Pakistan.
UNESCO/Akhtar Soomro

Taliban attack on Pakistan school an act of ‘horror and rank cowardice', says UN chief

16 December 2014
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today strongly condemned the “blood-curdling attack” on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, which has cost the lives of at least 130 people, the vast majority of whom were children.
Aerial view of the vast destruction of the Indonesian coast caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
UN Photo/E. Schneider

Critical gaps remain in early warning 10 years after Indian Ocean tsunami – UN

15 December 2014
A decade after the Indian Ocean tsunami struck, the Asia-Pacific region remains highly disaster prone and critical gaps remain in early warning, especially in reaching the most vulnerable people and remote communities, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) said today.
Afghan troops being trained by NATO at one of the military training centres in Kabul.
UNAMA

Afghanistan: Security Council backs agreement on new non-combat NATO mission

12 December 2014
Amid ongoing violence in Afghanistan, the United Nations Security Council today welcomed the agreement between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Afghan Government to establish a new non-combat, training, advisory and assistance mission, which would begin operation in January 2015.