Category: Pacific

The Bicol region – where typhoon Goni made its landfall on Sunday – currently has some 425 active COVID-19 cases and the risk of transmission remains high, especially in typically crowded evacuation centres, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).   About 361,000 people are sheltering in evacuation centres across the affected regions while another 54,400… Read More

Thomas Andrews, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said that the Government has set a “laudable standard” for the upcoming election – that they be free, fair, and reflect the will of the people.   “But this cannot happen as long as it is enforcing laws that undermine the very lifeblood of democracy, and the… Read More

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has expressed “deep revulsion” at the killing on Saturday night of at least 24 people, according to latest reports, and injuring of dozens of others in a suicide attack outside an education centre. Read More

Typhoon Goni – known locally in the Philippines as Rolly – made landfall early morning on Sunday (local time) with catastrophically violent winds of up to 280 kilometres-per-hour and torrential rainfall within a 230-kilometer diameter of its centre.  According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 68.6 million people are affected, with 24.3 million living… Read More

Myanmar has been preparing for the return of hundreds of thousands of workers – some 650,000 are in Thailand alone – and one of the key tasks was to set up quarantine facilities for those returning migrants. Sandi Swe, who has been working in a quarantine facility since March 2020, shared her experience with UN News.  April should have been… Read More

There are also reports that 174 people have died or are missing.  Storm Molave, which made landfall at around 11 am local time on Wednesday, is one of the strongest storms to hit the south-east Asian nation in 20 years. The resulting “extreme rainfall” could continue over the coming days, worsening the already precarious situation faced by many families, UN… Read More

The UN chief was “very encouraged” by President Moon Jae-in’s announcement on Wednesday of South Korea’s commitment to get to net zero emissions by this date, according to a statement issued by his Spokesperson.  Secretary-General @antonioguterres encouraged by President Moon Jae-in’s announcement of the Republic of Korea’s commitment to get to net zero emissions by 2050, joining a growing group… Read More

“Education is the fundamental right of every girl and boy, everywhere”, stressed Aida Girma, UNICEF’s Representative in the country. “Schools must never be targeted”. According to news reports, the lethal blast targeted the Jamia Zubairia religious school, or madrassa, in the Dir Colony Area of Peshawar, while students were studying.  We stand together in shock & grief after the heinous… Read More

Minority groups, including the Rohingya Muslim community and ethnic Rakhine population, have been disproportionately affected, said a senior OHCHR spokesperson in Geneva.  “While the elections represent an important milestone in Myanmar’s democratic transition, the civic space is still marred by continuing restrictions of the freedoms of opinion, expression and access to information, and the use of language that could amount… Read More

“The Secretary-General is very encouraged by Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide’s announcement of Japan’s commitment to get to net zero emissions  by 2050, which is a very significant positive development, and hereby expresses his appreciation for Prime Minister Suga’s leadership,” said the statement released by UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.  Japan’s announcement comes two weeks after a call by Mr. Guterres for UN Member States to commit to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and to submit more ambitious Nationally… Read More