Asia Pacific

Viet Nam: repatriated Montagnards seem well and in good spirits – UN

5 August 2005
The first Montagnard people repatriated to Viet Nam from Cambodia earlier this year under an agreement with the United Nations refugee agency seem to be faring well despite concerns raised by human rights groups, the agency reported today after on-site visits to villages in the Southeast Asian country's Central Highlands.

UN-backed Indian Ocean tsunami early warning system begins to take shape

5 August 2005
A major element of a United Nations-backed tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean should be up and running by the end of the year as part of an international effort to prevent a recurrence of last December's catastrophe, when experts believe tens of thousands of people could have been saved had they been alerted in time.

UN Refugee agency asks Pakistan to give Afghans more time to relocate

5 August 2005
The United Nations refugee agency said today it has asked the Pakistani Government to give over 150,000 Afghan refugees being relocated enough time to choose either voluntary return to Afghanistan or relocation to a camp of their preference in Pakistan.
Atomic cloud bursting over Hiroshima, 2 minutes after the explosion, at 8:17 am on 6 August 1945.
UN Photo/Mitsuo Matsushige

UN renews call for total nuclear ban on 60th anniversary of bombing of Japan

5 August 2005
Peace and Security

The United Nations is marking the sombre 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with renewed calls for a nuclear-weapons-free world, and for all States to prevent the spread of such weapons by reaffirming their commitment to international nuclear non-proliferation treaties and accords.

1.2 million girls are not attending classes

UNICEF calls for concerted action to improve Afghan women’s education, health

4 August 2005
With the deck stacked against Afghan girls from early childhood in the only country in the world where men live longer than women, the United Nations, the Government and other partners must take concerted action to improve education and health care for women, a senior UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) official said today.

UN watchdog warns Iran against nuclear activities pending enhanced surveillance

3 August 2005
The United Nations agency entrusted with curbing the spread of nuclear weapons today again called on Iran not to resume any uranium activities pending the installation of surveillance equipment by the middle of next week.
Locusts are nearly invisible amid damaged foliage

UN agency helps Afghanistan clear locusts from agricultural areas

3 August 2005
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has helped Afghanistan clear locusts from cultivated areas in the agriculture-dependent country, where an explosion in numbers of the crop-devouring insects of plague proportions four years ago has posed a clear and present danger.
Louise Arbour

UN human rights chief lauds Romania for receiving Uzbek refugees

3 August 2005
The United Nations human rights chief has praised Romania’s decision to give temporary shelter to more than 430 Uzbek refugees who fled violent unrest in their homeland two months ago.

UN health agency monitors human deaths from China's 'pig flu' outbreak

3 August 2005
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today said it was following closely reports from China that at least 38 people have died and more than 200 others have been made ill by a swine-borne disease in Sichuan province.

UN refugee agency ‘extremely concerned’ for Uzbek detainees in Kyrgyzstan

2 August 2005
The United Nations refugee agency today again voiced “extreme concern” over the continued detention of 15 Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan after more than 400 of their compatriots, who fled violence in their homeland two months ago, were flown to Romania on Friday.