Asia Pacific

Secretary-General António Guterres (left) and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan brief the media at a joint press conference in Tokyo.
UN/Dan Powell

In Tokyo, UN chief expresses full support for US-Japan dialogue with North Korea

8 August 2018
Peace and Security

At a joint press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the ongoing talks between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as well as Japan’s renewed initiative of dialogue with the country.

The smoldering ruins of Nagasaki, about 700 metres from the hypocentre of the explosion, as seen on 10 August 1945.
UN Photo/Yosuke Yamahata

Let Nagasaki remain ‘the last city’ to suffer nuclear devastation, says museum director as UN chief arrives

8 August 2018
Peace and Security

It’s essential that Nagasaki’s devastation should “not be forgotten” now or in the future, if the threat of nuclear war is to be lifted, said the Director of the Japanese city’s Atomic Bomb Museum, ahead of a visit there on Thursday by the UN Secretary-General.

Rohingya refugees endure a heavy rain in Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar District, Bangladesh, on 4 May 2018. UNCHR chief Filippo Grandi has appealed to regional Governments to offer more support to Bangladesh in addressing the ongoing refugee crisis.
UNICEF/Brian Sokol

Bangladesh: Head of UN refugee agency calls on Asia-Pacific leaders to show ‘solidarity’ with Rohingya refugees

7 August 2018
Migrants and Refugees

The Head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, on Tuesday urged government representatives and business leaders from the Asia-Pacific region to offer more support and protection for over 700,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled violence and discrimination in Myanmar’s Rakhine State over the past year.

An injured victim of the 5 August 2018 North Lombok earthquake in Indonesia is evacuated by members of the Red Cross.
Indonesian Red Cross

Indonesia: Psychological impact on earthquake survivors turns villages into ‘ghost towns’

7 August 2018
Humanitarian Aid

Following the magnitude 7 earthquake which rocked the Indonesian island of Lombok at the weekend, more than 130 aftershocks have been felt with some villages being turned into “ghost towns”, journalists at the UN in Geneva heard on Tuesday.

Injured civilians, having escaped the raging inferno, gathered on a pavement west of Miyuki-bashi in Hiroshima, Japan, about 11 a.m. on 6 August 1945.
UN Photo/Yoshito Matsushige

As Hiroshima observes 73rd anniversary of atomic bombing, UN notes ‘stalled’ progress on nuclear disarmament

6 August 2018
Peace and Security

The world needs the continued moral leadership of the people of Hiroshima, the top United Nations disarmament official said on Monday, commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bombing that devastated the city while lamenting that after decades of momentum towards a nuclear-free world, “progress has stalled.”

The Indonesian Red Cross evacuates children from the island of Lombok following the 5th August earthquake.
Indonesian Red Cross

UN chief ‘saddened’ by latest devastating earthquake to hit Indonesian island of Lombok

6 August 2018
Humanitarian Aid

Following the magnitude 7 earthquake that hit Indonesia's East Lombok on Sunday, the United Nations Secretary-General said he was “saddened by the devastating loss of life, injuries and damage caused”, in a statement issued on Monday.

IOM staff register beneficiaries during a distribution for natural disaster-affected families in Afghanistan. March 2015.
IOM

Death of local UN staffer in latest Afghan suicide attack highlights tragic toll of violence against civilians

1 August 2018
Peace and Security

The death of a local United Nations staff member in a suicide attack on Wednesday in the city of Jalalabad, has highlighted the tragic and relentless effects of terrorist attacks targeting civilians across Afghanistan.

A view of women on the streets of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. (file)
UN Photo/Fardin Waezi

Afghanistan: Jalalabad attacks provoke ‘outrage’ and ‘strongest’ condemnation from UN Mission

31 July 2018
Peace and Security

As part of a recent pattern of attacks in Afghanistan, at least 13 civilians were killed and 20 others wounded on Tuesday in Jalalabad, drawing “outrage” and condemnation “in the strongest terms” from the United Nations Assistance Mission in the country, UNAMA.

Researchers travelling on a small canal during a field visit to the Sundarbans in Bangladesh.
FAO/Mondal Falgoonee Kumar

Bangladesh: World Heritage Site threatened by ‘heedless industrialisation’ - UN expert

31 July 2018
Economic Development

The Sundarbans forest, a which is the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the world and home to several endangered species, is being threatened by “heedless industrialization”, according to a UN rights expert, who on Tuesday, called on the Government of Bangladesh to halt the process. 

A man harvests long-blade grass from a field in Mindanao, Philippines.
UNDP Philippines

UN chief welcomes new law giving extra autonomy to Muslims in Southern Philippines

27 July 2018
Peace and Security

The UN Secretary-General on Friday welcomed a new law which grants extra autonomy to Muslim communities living in the Southern Philippines, describing it as a “landmark achievement on the road to lasting peace”.