Asia Pacific

Damage seen on Saturday 14 March 2015 in Port Vila, capital of Vanuatu, after Cyclone Pam moved through the Archipelago.
UNICEF Pacific

UN official urges continued international support as Vanuatu recovers from Cyclone Pam

21 March 2015
The international community must ramp up financial and humanitarian support for Vanuatu's most vulnerable communities as they begin to rebuild and recover from the devastation wrought by Cyclone Pam, a senior United Nations humanitarian official said today.
Army troops en route to a combat patrol in Maguindanao Province, southern Philippines. Thousands of people have been displaced by the ongoing conflict in Mindanao.
IRIN/Jason Gutierrez

More aid needed for 120,000 displaced by clashes in southern Philippines – UN agency

20 March 2015
Intensifying armed conflict in the southern Philippines island of Mindanao has displaced some 120,000 people since late January, the United Nations refugee agency said today, expressing particular concern for the safety of women and children who could be exposed to exploitation and abuse.
Country Representative for UN Women in Afghanistan Elzira Sagynbaeva.
UN Women

Afghanistan: UN condemns brutal killing of mentally ill woman

20 March 2015
United Nations officials in Afghanistan have strongly condemned the brutal killing of a 27-year-old mentally ill woman, who was attacked yesterday by an angry crowd accusing her of burning a copy of the Quran.
Photo: UNAIDS/D. Gutu
UNAIDS/D. Gutu

UN rights experts urge Pakistan not to execute juveniles

20 March 2015
A group of independent United Nations human rights experts welcomed the last-minute decision by the Pakistani authorities to postpone the hanging of Shafqat Hussain, who was convicted as a minor, while calling on them to halt the execution altogether.
Crop damage caused by Super Cyclone Pam on the Pacific Island of Vanuatu.
UNICEF/Gaelle Sevenier

Vanuatu: UN finds ‘extensive’ loss of agriculture; full scale of damage still to be revealed

20 March 2015
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today called for emergency support for farmers in Vanuatu, where the vast majority of crops have been destroyed by Tropical Cyclone Pam.
Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriela Knaul.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

Independent UN human rights expert calls trial of former Maldives President ‘mockery’

19 March 2015
An independent United Nations human rights expert has warned of the “seriously deteriorating situation” regarding the independence of the justice system in the Maldives in the wake of the sentencing of former President Mohammed Nasheed, calling his trial a “mockery” of the country’s Constitution.
UN Photo/Martine Perret
UN Photo/Martine Perret

UN urges Pakistan to reinstate suspension of death penalty

19 March 2015
The United Nations has expressed deep concern today at the increasing number of executions in Pakistan since December 2014, and at the Government’s recent announcement that it has now withdrawn its moratorium on the death penalty for all cases, not only those related to terrorism.
Volunteers pack school bags at UNICEF's Pacific regional warehouse in Suva, Fiji to be dispatched to Cyclone Pam affected areas.
UNICEF/NYHQ2015-0449/Hing

UNICEF rushes emergency supplies for cyclone-affected Tuvalu

19 March 2015
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is dispatching emergency life-saving supplies to communities in Tuvalu as part of its efforts to assist communities in the Pacific region that were affected by Tropical Cyclone Pam, with nutrition and hygiene kits arriving today.
Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar Yanghee Lee.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

UN rights expert urges Myanmar authorities to address signs of backtracking

18 March 2015
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar today called on the country’s authorities to address ongoing challenges to the democratic reform process “before they undermine the success achieved so far.”
Former President of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed.
UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz (file)

UN rights chief raises serious concerns about ‘rushed’ trial of former Maldives President

18 March 2015
The United Nations human rights chief expressed strong concerns today about the hasty and apparently unfair trial of the former President of the Maldives, Mohammed Nasheed, who received a 13-year jail sentence for the unlawful detention of a criminal court judge in 2012.