Asia Pacific

India begun the world's biggest COVID-19 vaccination programme in January 2021.
UNICEF/Ruhani Kaur

First Person: Panic as COVID-19 ‘tsunami’ hits India

29 April 2021
Health

A UN staff member in India has described the huge upsurge in COVID-19 infections in her country in recent days as a “tsunami”, and has spoken of the “panic” she felt, as her immediate family became infected with the virus.

In New Delhi India, a poster plays a role in dispelling myths about the COVID-19 vaccine.
© UNICEF/Sujay Reddy

UN providing equipment and supplies to help India fight rapid COVID-19 surge

28 April 2021
Health

The United Nations is supporting India as the country battles a major surge in COVID-19 cases which on Wednesday saw the overall reported death toll top 201,000, according to latest World Health Organization (WHO) figures. Confirmed cases stand at just under 18 million nationwide. 

An IDP camp in northern Myanmar. (file photo)
UNICEF/Minzayar Oo

Renewed clashes displace thousands in Myanmar, UN reports

28 April 2021
Peace and Security

Fresh clashes between Myanmar security forces and regional armed groups have displaced thousands across the country, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday.

Protestors in the US capital, Washington, DC, call for democracy in Myanmar.
Unsplash/Gayatri Malhotra

Right to freedom of expression in Myanmar must be guaranteed, UN expert urges military coup leader

27 April 2021
Peace and Security

The leader of Myanmar’s ‘Tatmadaw’ military has been urged to publicly commit to honoring the fundamental right to freedom of expression for those protesting the generals’ February coup. 

Entrance to the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (file photo).
UN News

Nepal: New appointments ‘undermine independence’ of rights oversight body, UN experts warn

27 April 2021
Human Rights

United Nations independent human rights experts on Tuesday voiced serious concerns over recent appointment of new members to Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission, which they said “undermined its independence, integrity and legitimacy”.

Some shelters have been rebuilt in Camp 9 of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh following a fire in March.
IOM/Mashrif Abdullah Al

First Person: Rohingya refugees traumatized again, after devastating camp fire

25 April 2021
Human Rights

A Rohingya refugee and volunteer for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has been telling UN News how his community has been “once again traumatized” as a result of a massive fire which swept through the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh in March, killing at least 11 people and making more than 45,000 homeless.

A healthcare worker at the Rumginae Hospital which serves communities in North Fly District, in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.
UN Papua New Guinea/Rachel Donovan

Seeing health ‘opportunities’ in post-pandemic Papua New Guinea: a UN Resident Coordinator blog

24 April 2021
Health

The global COVID-19 pandemic could provide “opportunities” to improve health care in Papua New Guinea (PNG) after the crisis is over, according to the United Nations’ most senior official in the southwestern Pacific Ocean nation.

According to WFP, food prices have risen sharply since the start of the political crisis in Myanmar. Pictured here, a grandmother washes vegetables to prepare a meal at her home in the country’s Shan state. (file photo)
UNICEF/Kaung Htet

Food aid operation begins to reach two million affected by Myanmar crisis

22 April 2021
Peace and Security

Two million people facing growing food insecurity linked to the ongoing political crisis in Myanmar are to receive nutrition assistance, amid rising “hunger and desperation”, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday. 

Two women pray at a temple in Yangon, Myanmar. (file photo)
Unsplash/Matteo Massimi

MYANMAR CRISIS: Stand with the people and protect them, urges UN rights expert

19 April 2021
Peace and Security

The international community has a responsibility to protect the people of Myanmar, under attack from their own military, the UN independent human rights expert on the country argues, in the second part of our in-depth interview, calling also for refuge to be given to those who have fled for their lives to neighbouring countries.

A book store at a market in Yangon, Myanmar, displays a range of titles, including some focusing on the life of Aung San Suu Kyi. (file photo)
Unsplash/Alexander Schimmeck

INTERVIEW: Myanmar military increasing efforts to keep truth from getting out, UN expert says

16 April 2021
Peace and Security

The crackdown on journalists, cutting off the Internet and disrupting the flow of information across Myanmar, is “not working”, and the world is not buying the military leadership’s “propaganda” that it is exercising restraint against protesters, the UN independent human rights expert on the country has said, in an in-depth interview with UN News.