Asia Pacific

UNICEF mobilizing relief supplies to help landslide victims in China

12 August 2010
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is mobilizing emergency relief supplies in north-western China to help authorities respond to the devastating series of landslides that have killed more than 700 people.
Displaced young girls and men queue up separately for cooked rations in Jalala camp, Pakistan

UN agencies call for $460 million to assist Pakistani flood victims

11 August 2010
United Nations aid agencies and their partners today requested almost $460 million to help Pakistan assist millions of people affected by floods that have cut a swathe through the country, killing hundreds of people and destroying homes, farmland and major infrastructure.
Injured civilians at a clinic

Afghan civilian death toll jumps 31 per cent due to insurgent attacks – UN

10 August 2010
A rise in insurgent attacks has led to a 31 per cent increase in the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan in the first six months of 2010 compared with the same period in 2009, the United Nations said in a new report released today.

Ban saddened by deaths and destruction as floods and landslides hit China

10 August 2010
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he was saddened by the loss of life and destruction caused by the severe flooding and landslides that have hit China, extending his condolences to the families of the victims and those whose homes and property have been destroyed.
Kyrgyz woman returns to find her home destroyed

Lack of funding jeopardizing aid efforts in Kyrgyzstan, UN reports

10 August 2010
The United Nations and its aid partners today voiced concern that immediate humanitarian needs in Kyrgyzstan will go unmet since they have only received 30 per cent of the $96 million requested to provide life-saving assistance to civilians affected by recent violence.
Millions have now been driven from their homes by the floods in Pakistan.

Huge scale of Pakistani floods impeding relief efforts, says UN agency

10 August 2010
The United Nations refugee agency’s staff on the ground in Pakistan are calling the devastating floods among the most difficult situations they have faced, stressing that the catastrophe is also testing the limits of the country’s emergency response capacity, as well as that of the world body and other agencies.
Special Representative Staffan de Mistura addresses press in Kabul [File Photo]

UN ‘shocked and appalled’ at killings of medical workers in Afghanistan

9 August 2010
All United Nations staff in Afghanistan are “shocked and appalled” at the killing of ten medical workers in the northeast of the Asian nation, a senior world body official said today, calling for the protection of international health-care workers as they provide life-saving services.
Araba Bibi, a widow from Jala Bela village, sits next to her home which was destroyed by the floods

Ban requests generous international help for flood-hit Pakistan

9 August 2010
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced extreme concern over the catastrophic floods that have killed hundreds of people in Pakistan and urged donors to contribute generously to the humanitarian response, saying the effects of the disaster rivalled the impact of the earthquake that struck the South Asian country in 2005.
Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

UNESCO chief condemns murder of head of Nepalese radio station

9 August 2010
The head of the United Nations agency mandated with upholding press freedom today spoke out against the murder of the chairman of a community radio station in western Nepal, calling on the country’s authorities to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice.
Victims of the worst floods to hit Pakistan in several years

Number of people affected by Pakistan floods climbs to 6 million – UN

8 August 2010
The number of people affected by the worst floods in living memory in Pakistan has been revised upward to 6 million, the United Nations announced today, voicing concern over hundreds of thousands of people who are stranded and unable to receive aid.