Asia Pacific

Winter drought threatens wheat harvest in north China plain as prices soar – UN

8 February 2011
A drought in the north China plain, the country’s winter wheat production region, could lead to a reduced harvest, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today, saying concern over the water shortage has caused wheat prices in the country to rise rapidly over the past few months.
Flood victims in Sri Lanka's Ampara district carry home food rations distributed by WFP

Humanitarian emergency persists as more floods ravage Sri Lanka – UN

8 February 2011
Fresh floods have hit Sri Lanka just weeks after large swathes of the South Asian island nation were inundated by a deluge caused by torrential rainfall, the United Nations reported today, saying that over a million people already weakened by the initial flooding are affected.
Temple of Preah Vihear

UN chief urges restraint after latest Thai-Cambodian border clashes

6 February 2011
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday voiced concern about repeated armed clashes between Cambodia and Thailand around their common border, and called on both sides to exercise restraint and resolve their dispute through dialogue.
A man displaced by the latest fighting carries aid items distributed by UNHCR

Fighting in north-west Pakistan may displace up to 90,000 people – UN refugee agency

4 February 2011
The UN refugee agency today warned that military operations against insurgents in the north-west region of Pakistan known as Mohmand agency could displace up to 90,000 people by the end of February if the fighting intensifies.
Damaged trees and fences in Queensland, Australia caused by Tropical Cyclone Yasi.

Australia’s disaster risk preparedness helped prevent Cyclone Yasi casualties – UN official

4 February 2011
A high level of disaster risk awareness, preparedness and planning helped prevent casualties when Tropical Cyclone Yasi struck north-east Australia earlier this week, the United Nations’ top disaster risk official said today, urging other countries to invest in improving their capacity to respond to such disasters.

Ban hopes election of new Myanmar president leads to ‘inclusive’ civilian government

4 February 2011
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today took note of the announcement, by Myanmar’s newly-convened parliament, of the election of a new president and vice-presidents and voiced hope that the move marks the beginning of a change in the status-quo in the South-East Asian country.
Families wade through floodwaters triggered by heavy rains in eastern Sri Lanka

UN agencies provide additional assistance as further floods hit Sri Lanka

4 February 2011
United Nations agencies are providing additional support to the Government of Sri Lanka in its efforts to respond to fresh floods, amidst existing efforts to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by earlier flooding that followed unusually heavy rainfall during the past two months.
Jhalanath Khanal, elected Prime Minister of Nepal

Nepal: Ban welcomes election of new premier ending political stalemate

3 February 2011
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the election of Jhalanath Khanal as Prime Minister of Nepal, a move that ends a prolonged stalemate on forming a new government in the South Asian country.
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, signs agreement in Kabul on 30 January 2011.
UN Photo/Eric Kanalstein

New UN-Afghan pact will help curb recruitment, sexual abuse of children – UN

3 February 2011
A new agreement between Afghanistan and the United Nations holds out the hope of ending the recruitment of children by armed forces and curbing the sexual abuse of young boys by powerful commanders, particularly in the national police, a top UN official said today.

Asian countries dominate global export of information technology goods – UN

2 February 2011
More than a third of the world’s information and communications technology (ICT) exports now originate from mainland China and its special administrative region of Hong Kong, a United Nations agency reported today, citing data that also shows that Asia accounted for 66.3 per cent of global ICT exports in 2009.