Asia Pacific

Displaced by violence in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: clashes between Government, Tamil rebels threaten children – UNICEF

16 May 2006
With Sri Lankan children falling victim to the renewed clashes between the Sri Lankan Government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today called on both sides to halt the violence and return to the negotiating table.

UN rights experts call on Myanmar to halt counter-insurgency drive targeting civilians

16 May 2006
United Nations human rights experts today called on the Government of Myanmar to urgently halt counter-insurgency military operations targeting civilians which have led to the forcible eviction and displacement of thousands of ethnic minority villagers.

Over 60 per cent of winter wheat is lost to drought in parts of China, UN says

16 May 2006
A prolonged drought has left hundreds of reservoirs dry and tens of thousands of wells with little or no water in western and northern China, wiping out nearly two thirds of the winter wheat in the worst-hit areas and reducing spring planting, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization of the (FAO) said in a new alert.
Ibrahim Gambari

Myanmar: UN to hold first high-level talks in 2 years with Government on democracy

16 May 2006
The United Nations will later this week hold its first high-level talks in more than two years with the Myanmar Government in what a UN spokesman today called a “potentially important opportunity” to see what can be done to help the South Asian country move in the direction of all-inclusive democracy and human rights.
Kofi Annan with President Roh Moo-hyun

Secretary-General wraps up visit to Republic of Korea, arrives in Japan

16 May 2006
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today wrapped up a visit to the Republic of Korea with a meeting with President Roh Moo-hyun, during which the two leaders discussed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear programme and Seoul’s relations with Japan.
Jan Vandemoortele briefs press on report

UN launches one-year early recover plan for post-quake Pakistan

16 May 2006
Aiming to help victims of the October 2005 earthquake that devastated Pakistan when they return to their homes, the United Nations today launched a 12-month, $300 million early recovery plan to bridge the transition from relief to reconstruction.

Number of Afghan returnees in 2006 passes 50,000 mark – UN refugee agency

16 May 2006
The number of Afghan refugees returning home this year from Pakistan under the United Nations refugee agency’s (UNHCR) voluntary repatriation programme is set to pass the 50,000 mark, bringing to some 3 million the total who have left Pakistan in the four-year-old programme, an agency spokesman said today.
A child in Afghanistan

New UN-backed strategy aims to improve care for most vulnerable Afghan children

15 May 2006
With at least 20 per cent of primary school age children in Afghanistan undertaking some form of work, and an estimated 40 per cent of girls married before the age of 18 and thus denied access to education, a new United Nations-backed strategy is focusing on developing community and family-based support for vulnerable youngsters.
Kofi Annan and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon

Be good global citizens, Annan tells students in Republic of Korea

15 May 2006
On the second stage of a six-nation tour, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged university students in the Republic of Korea to rise to the challenge of creating a better society at home and helping the United Nations create a better one in the world at large.

Afghanistan: Security Council condemns attack on UNICEF workers

15 May 2006
Condemning a recent terrorist attack in Afghanistan against a vehicle of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Security Council today urged the country’s authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.