Asia Pacific

Vijay Nambiar, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Myanmar

Myanmar’s release of political prisoners insufficient, UN envoy says

20 May 2011
The top United Nations envoy for Myanmar has told the Security Council that while the country has taken small steps in the right direction by releasing some political prisoners and reducing the sentences of others, the measures have been short of expectation and insufficient.
Moroccan locust females laying eggs

UN to battle locusts and their appetites in Central Asia and Caucasus

19 May 2011
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today announced a scheme to assist 10 countries across Central Asia and the Caucasus to protect up to 25 million hectares of their cultivated farmland from locusts.

UN agency deplores slaying of another Pakistani journalist

17 May 2011
The head of the United Nations agency charged with promoting press freedom today condemned the murder of another journalist in Pakistan, where at least 15 journalists have been the victims of targeted assassinations since 2002.
Damage in the Tohoku region of Japan after the tsunami of 11 March.

UN to dispatch expert fact-finding mission to damaged Japanese nuclear plant

17 May 2011
The United Nations atomic agency announced today that it will send a team of international experts on a fact-finding mission to Japan to assess nuclear safety in the wake of the damage caused by March’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.
UNDP Administrator Helen Clark

Kyrgyzstan making development gains, but needs to tackle HIV/AIDS – UN official

16 May 2011
Kyrgyzstan is making significant progress towards key economic and social development targets but needs to do much more to tackle the spread of HIV/AIDS, the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said today as she wrapped up a two-day visit to the Central Asian country.

Ban deplores deadly suicide bombing at Pakistani military training centre

13 May 2011
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned today’s suicide bombings at a military training centre in north-western Pakistan, which have killed more than 80 people and injured at least 120 others.
Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar: UN envoy meets with leading Government and opposition figures

13 May 2011
A top United Nations official today wrapped up a visit to Myanmar, where he met with senior members of the country’s newly installed Government and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).

UN report calls on countries to consider gender impact of trade policies

11 May 2011
Policies aimed at expanding trade in Bhutan and promoting the Asian country’s unique goal of maximizing “gross national happiness” should be linked to strategies for educating women and enhancing their positions in society and in the economy, a new United Nations report says.

Afghanistan: UN welcomes creation of anti-corruption panel

11 May 2011
The United Nations has welcomed today’s inauguration of an independent committee in Afghanistan tasked with monitoring and evaluating corruption in Afghanistan, where the problem continues to hold back or slow the pace of economic development.
Vijay Nambiar, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Myanmar

Senior UN official heads to Myanmar for talks with top officials

10 May 2011
A top United Nations official will arive in Myanmar tomorrow for a three-day visit in which he will meet with the country's newly installed Government, political parties and civil society groups in the Asian nation.