Asia Pacific

Ian Martin

Nepalese deal can translate into ‘long-term peace,’ says UN envoy

21 November 2006
The United Nations envoy to Nepal welcomed today’s signing of a comprehensive peace agreement between the Himalayan country’s multi-party Government and the Maoists, saying the pact “promises to convert the ceasefire into long-term peace.”

Afghanistan: UN airlifts aid to flood victims, faces severe shortfall for drought relief

20 November 2006
United Nations agencies in Afghanistan moved on three fronts today, airlifting emergency aid to nearly 6,000 flood victims, staging the latest phase of a polio vaccination campaign targeting 7.2 million children, and warning that 2 to 3 million people will be “severely affected” if a $48 million shortfall in food assistance is not met.

Two killings in Timor-Leste prompt increased UN police activity

20 November 2006
The United Nations is stepping up its police presence in Timor-Leste after two killings in the past 24 hours in Dili, the capital of the small and impoverished South-East Asian nation.

UN refugee agency concerned at disappearance in Kazakhstan, deportations in Thailand

17 November 2006
The United Nations refugee agency today expressed deep concern over the fate of a Chinese Uighur asylum seeker in Kazakhstan who it fears might have been deported, as well as Thailand’s deportation to Laos of 53 ethnic Hmong, including a newborn baby.

Myanmar: UN agency voices ‘great frustration’ at failure to respond on forced labour

17 November 2006
The Governing Body of the United Nations International Labour Office (ILO) wrapped its latest session today, voicing “great frustration” at Myanmar’s failure to agree on how to deal with complaints of forced labour, seeking urgent cooperation from Belarus, and calling for stricter inspections worldwide to protect workers’ rights.

UN Volunteers arrive in Timor-Leste to begin work on election preparations

17 November 2006
A group of 45 United Nations Volunteers (UNV) have arrived in Timor-Leste to join preparations for the strife-torn country’s first post-independence elections next year.
Refugee taking picture in UNHCR Census

Nepal and UN agency start joint census of more than 100,000 long-term refugees

16 November 2006
The United Nations refugee agency and the Nepalese Government have begun taking a census of an estimated 106,000 refugees in the country’s east, most Bhutanese and living there for more than a decade, in a joint exercise to obtain better information and to streamline assistance services.

Over 1 million people in Nepal could go hungry unless UN agency gets passage for food

15 November 2006
More than 1 million people in impoverished Nepal could go hungry unless the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is able to freely transport aid, the agency warned today, while appealing to the Nepalese transport union to allow convoys to deliver assistance to over 50,000 drought-affected people and over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees.
Former US President Bill Clinton chairs meeting

Annan lauds tsunami envoy Bill Clinton, says the UN will continue his rebuilding efforts

15 November 2006
Marking the final meeting of the international consortium set up to deal with the ravages of the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today praised former United States President Bill Clinton for making a “profound difference” to millions of survivors of the disaster.

UN agency criticizes forced return of refugee by Azerbaijan

14 November 2006
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today levelled strong criticism at Azerbaijan authorities for forcing a Turkish citizen of Kurdish ethnicity, who had previously been granted refugee status in Germany, to return to her native country.