Asia Pacific

A child at the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.
© UNICEF/Sayed Bidel

Afghanistan: Rapid decline in public health conditions, WHO warns

29 September 2021
Health

Healthcare provision is deteriorating fast in Afghanistan, the UN health agency warned on Wednesday, with cases of measles and diarrhoea shooting up, and polio becoming a “major risk”.

Kim Song, Permanent Representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations, addresses the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

DPRK says it will ‘respond willingly’ if US abandons ‘hostile policy’ 

27 September 2021
UN Affairs

The Permanent Representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the United Nations, Kim Song, said that if the United States “shows its bold decision to give up its hostile policy”, his country is “prepared to respond willingly at any time.” 

People in rural parts of Yemen are suffering from extreme hunger.
UNDP Yemen

Yemen: Endless suffering of children continues due to war, aid crisis 

27 September 2021
Peace and Security

The Yemen conflict killed or maimed 2,600 children as hostilities intensified in 2019 and 2020; that’s according to a new report of the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed conflict in the country. 

The South Pacific archipelago of Tuvalu is highly susceptible to rises in sea level brought about by climate change.
UNDP Tuvalu/Aurélia Rusek

Pacific nations appeal for solidarity to combat COVID-19 and climate change

25 September 2021
UN Affairs

Pacific Island leaders speaking in the UN General Assembly on Saturday underlined the need for global solidarity, commitment and action to tackle COVID-19 and climate change, two crises which threaten sustainable development. 

Students in grades 1 to 6 have restarted school in Herat, Afgahnistan, but girls in grades 7-12 have not been attending classes.
© UNICEF/Sayed Bidel

Afghanistan: Girls’ education must be a given, urges deputy UN chief

24 September 2021
Human Rights

Ensuring all Afghan girls can be educated must be “a zero condition” for the Taliban, before international recognition of their de facto authority, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Friday.

People across ethnic and religious divides hold vigil in Yangon, Myanmar.
Unsplash/Zinko Hein

Human rights ‘catastrophe’ in Myanmar: UN calls for urgent action  

23 September 2021
Human Rights

Urgent action is needed to prevent the situation in Myanmar from escalating into a “full-blown conflict”, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned on Thursday.   

Conditions have 'worsened' in Myanmar following a military coup in February 2021, according to a UN human rights rapporteur.
Asian Development Bank

Myanmar: UN expert says current international efforts failing, urges ‘change of course’

22 September 2021
Human Rights

The UN independent rights expert on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, told the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday that conditions inside the country following the 1 February military coup have worsened, urging a “change of course” to prevent further human rights abuses and deaths.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (centre) speaks to hospital staff at the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan National Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.
WHO/Lindsay Mackenzie

Afghanistan’s healthcare system on brink of collapse, as hunger hits 95 per cent of families

22 September 2021
Humanitarian Aid

Afghanistan’s health system is on the brink of collapse, the head of the World Health Organisation, WHO, warned on Wednesday, while on the streets of Kabul, the hunger families are suffering is as acute in urban areas as the drought-stricken rural parts of the country. 

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (on screens) of the Philippines addresses the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session.
UN Photo/Cia Pak

Philippines President urges world to ‘reverse course’ on inequality 

21 September 2021
UN Affairs

President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines urged on Tuesday all United Nations Member States to reverse course on inequality, saying the issue will define humanity’s future. 

As schools slowly reopen in parts of Afghanistan, it is important to ensure that both girls and boys are able to return safely.
©UNICEF

Afghanistan: ‘Palpable’ fear of ‘brutal and systemic repression’ of women grows

21 September 2021
Women

Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last month, they have made some commitments to uphold human rights. However, their subsequent actions have “sadly contradicted” those promises, the UN rights chief told a side event of the General Assembly on Tuesday.