Category: Pacific

The capital city of Bangladesh, Dhaka, where I have been living and working for the past three years, is normally a bustling and fast-paced metropolis of some 18 million people, animated by street life and high-end restaurants, expensive cars and rickshaws, culture, fashion, slums, the call to prayer sounding from loudspeakers.  The UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Mia Seppo (centre),… Read More

“The United Nations is deeply saddened to confirm that Mr Pyae Sone Win Maung…has died after being wounded in a security incident in Minbya Township in Rakhine state, on the evening of Monday 20thApril 2020”, the statement read.  The WHO driver was en route in a clearly-marked UN vehicle, from Sittwe to Yangon, transporting COVID-19 surveillance samples in support of the Ministry of Health and… Read More

Nearly 400 others onboard were found dehydrated, malnourished and in need of immediate medical care. They disembarked in Bangladesh on Thursday morning and are receiving assistance from UN refugee agency UNHCR, and its partners. “We are aware of reports that this boat had repeatedly sought a safe harbour, but the vessel was unable to land in Malaysia”, OHCHR Spokesperson Richard Colville… Read More

UN Secretary-General António Guterres was deeply saddened by reports of the loss of lives and destruction in Vanuatu, Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Tonga, according to a statement issued on Sunday by his Spokesperson. “The Secretary-General expresses his deep solidarity with the people of the Pacific as they face the impact of this cyclone, along with other climate-related challenges, as… Read More

High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said in a statement that she was distressed by the plight of the informal migrant workers affected, many of whom were, in effect, forced to leave the cities where they worked at just a few hours’ notice, unable to pay for rent or food. “The lockdown in India represents a massive logistical and implementation challenge given… Read More

Ingrid Hayden, also Officer-in-Charge at the UN mission in the country, UNAMA, reported that despite international engagement, President Ashraf Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah remain at loggerheads over the outcome of the presidential election held in September. “Afghanistan appears to be reaching a defining moment. Almost two decades after the start of the coalition intervention, the question for the Islamic… Read More

Ken Rubin is a professor of volcanology and geochemistry specializing in volcanoes and sea level change. Based in the Department of Earth Sciences at te University of Hawaii, he travels the world to observe active and dormant volcanoes, both on the land and beneath the sea. “In my work, I look at specifically at how volcanic eruptions impact populations. It… Read More

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have been busy providing vital supplies to Pacific Island governments, including more than 170,000 essential medical and laboratory items.  “UNICEF will continue working with governments and our partners throughout the Pacific to stop transmission of the virus, and to keep children and their families safe”, said UNICEF Pacific Representative,… Read More

Diane Paloma is the CEO of Lunalilo Home and the King William Charles Lunalilo Trust which cares for elderly people in Honolulu, the capital of the US state of Hawaii. Some 80 residents and day-care clients are looked after at Lunalilo, which was established in 1883 following a bequest by King William Charles Lunalilo, the first of a long line… Read More

Since the original outbreak of the coronavirus in Hubei, China, at the end of January, 346 medical teams, from 29 Provinces in China, have been sent to Hubei to save lives, aiding local medical teams. The hospital that Xiang oversees, the Yifu Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, got notification to go on the mission, on 24 January, just before… Read More