Asia

Infrastructure development threatens water supplies to billions in Asia – UN report

6 September 2005
Overgrazing, deforestation and the building of roads and settlements on the mountains of Asia are increasing the risk of flooding in some areas and drying up rivers in others, affecting billions of people and endangering the region’s rich wildlife, according to a new report from the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
ESCAP headquarters Bangkok, Thailand

First UN information technology centre approved for Asia-Pacific region

18 May 2005
The United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) wrapped up its annual session today by approving a landmark decision to establish in the UN’s first information and communications technology training centre for the region.
ESCAP headquarters Bangkok, Thailand

Creative thinking needed to beat high cost of Asia-Pacific’s infrastructure needs – UN

17 May 2005
Demands for Internet connectivity and revamped transportation infrastructure in Asia-Pacific countries in a climate of slumping foreign investment in the region will mean finding innovative ways to boost financing for development, the head of the United Nations regional commission said today.
Kim Hak-Su, ESCAP

Poverty reduction, ageing and tsunami recovery focus of UN Asia-Pacific meeting

12 May 2005
The sixty-first session of the United Nations commission for Asia and the Pacific opened today in Bangkok, Thailand, with member delegations joining experts for discussions that touched on poverty reduction, the region's rapidly ageing populations and economic recovery after last year's devastating tsunami.

Senior UN official calls for greater access to US markets by poor countries in Asia-Pacific

10 May 2005
The United Nations envoy for the world's poorest countries today called for greater access to markets in the United States for the least developed nations in the Asia and Pacific region.

UN to co-host regional conference on development for rural women in South Asia

9 May 2005
Recognizing that rural women in South Asia are among the poorest people in the world, two United Nations development agencies are teaming up to co-host a conference in New Delhi, India, to promote policies and programmes aimed at reducing gender inequality in that region.
ESCAP headquarters Bangkok, Thailand

UN Asia-Pacific meeting to focus on fresh ideas to raise development funds

5 May 2005
The annual conference of the United Nations regional commission for Asia and the Pacific will focus on finding innovative ways to spark greater international investment in the already-promising and productive economies of the area’s developing countries.

Delegates at UN meeting pledge green-friendly approach to development in Asia and the Pacific

29 March 2005
Ministers and senior officials from 52 Asian and Pacific countries meeting under United Nations auspices today pledged to alter current patterns of production, consumption and distribution to promote cleaner, environmentally sustainable growth as they fight to eradicate poverty.

Ministers at UN-backed Asia-Pacific meeting seek ‘green-friendly’ development

28 March 2005
Ministers from Asia and the Pacific opened a two-day meeting under United Nations auspices today in Seoul, Republic of Korea, to draw up a strategy to enhance development without hurting the environment.
Kim Hak-Su, ESCAP

UN-backed Asia-Pacific meeting told high growth environmentally unsustainable

24 March 2005
The first high-level major environmental conference since last December's devastating Indian Ocean tsunami opened today in Seoul, Republic of Korea, under United Nations auspices with a warning that high economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region is environmentally unsustainable.