Asia

UN anti-drug agency launches projects to stem heroin flow from Central Asia

20 June 2003
With Central Asia turning into a hotspot for international heroin trafficking following the return of massive opium cultivation in Afghanistan, the United Nations anti-drug agency launched five new major projects totalling more than $17 million this week in a bid to cut off the narcotics flow from the region into Europe.

Despite striking successes Asia-Pacific region faces huge social challenges – UN

4 June 2003
While the Asia-Pacific region has achieved “one of the largest decreases in mass poverty in human history,” huge challenges still exist in basic education, gender equality, child health, maternal mortality and environmental sustainability, according to a United Nations report released today in Bangkok.