Asia Pacific

A 'Quake Jumper' in the Kaghan valley

UN agency starts long-term recovery effort for Pakistani quake survivors

24 February 2006
Launching a two-year programme to help restore the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of survivors of last October’s devastating earthquake in Pakistan, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced the formation of a team of 23 expert mountain guides to fully assess damage and needs.
Tom Koenigs

Afghanistan: new UN envoy calls for halt to attack on schools and teachers

23 February 2006
The new top United Nations envoy in Afghanistan today called on opponents of the violence-racked country’s Government to stop attacking schools and teachers and pledged that the world organization would help to reopen schools that have been attacked as soon as possible.

DPR of Korea: UN agency’s governing body approves new food aid plan

23 February 2006
The governing Executive Board of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today approved a two-year plan to build on the agency’s decade-long record of humanitarian assistance to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) by tackling nutritional deficiencies and chronic hunger.
Louise Fréchette

Tokelau polls show success of UN Decolonization Committee, Fréchette says

23 February 2006
Opening the annual session of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette today called the successful referendum in the South Pacific atolls of Tokelau a welcome example of how all people in Non-Self Governing Territories must retain the right to choose their political futures.

Musician Rostropovich launches immunization drive in Azerbaijan with UN help

22 February 2006
World-renowned cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich this Friday will kick off a nationwide United Nations-sponsored campaign to immunize more than three million Azerbaijanis against measles and rubella.
UNHCR chief António Guterres

Drop in refugees from Sri Lanka shows progress towards peace: UN official

21 February 2006
Ahead of Wednesday’s peace talks on Sri Lanka between Tamil Tiger separatists and the Government, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today that the drop in the number of Sri Lankans fleeing regional insecurity showed that all people on the island want an end to the 20-year conflict.

UN official on tsunami assessment mission in Indonesia and India

21 February 2006
More than a year after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami, a senior United Nations official is travelling in Indonesia and India this week to assess the recovery effort and look at what's being done to provide shelter for the victims displaced by the disaster.

UN assessment team arrives in Philippines after last week’s deadly landslide

20 February 2006
Following the deadly landslide in the Philippines, where almost 1,400 people are still missing, the United Nations coordinating unit said today that a UN assessment team had now arrived in the country and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) had mobilized an additional $100,000 to help the victims.

Bangladesh and UNICEF gear up for world’s largest campaign against measles

20 February 2006
With measles the fifth leading cause of death among children under five years of age in Bangladesh, this Saturday the Government, supported by its international partners, will launch the largest-ever vaccination campaign for around 34 million children, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today.

Annan saddened by Philippines landslide disaster; UN sends team

17 February 2006
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today offered his condolences to those affected by a landslide in the Philippines that may have buried up to 2000 people, and announced that a UN assessment team is being sent to the region to find out how best to alleviate the suffering.