Category: Pacific

In a statement on Monday, Tadamichi Yamamoto, who heads the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said that despite decades of conflict, Afghans remain committed to a nation that is stable, peaceful and prosperous, and that upholds the human rights of women and men alike.  Mr. Yamamoto also expressed hope that elections due to take place next month would… Read More

In a report marking two years since the arrival of around 745,000 Rohingya civilians in Bangladesh – after fleeing State-led persecution and violence in Myanmar – Executive Director Fore appealed for urgent investment in education and skills training. “I would love to go to school because I could learn many things.” 12-year-old Mohsina lives in a refugee camp in Cox’s… Read More

The High Commissioner is “concerned by the ongoing events in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), and the escalation of violence that has taken place in recent days”, her spokesperson, Rupert Colville, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday. “She notes the Chief Executive’s commitment to ‘engage as widely as possible’ and to ‘listen to the grievances of the people… Read More

Issued to all refugees over the age of 12, in camps in southern Bangladesh, the biometric, fraud-proof card is for many, the first time that they have owned an official document that proves their identity. “Most of these people are stateless and most of these people have not had any form of identification document, so for the vast majority of… Read More

The delicate balance between indigenous farming practices and conservation in Morocco is under threat, but according to the UN, local communities in the Western High Atlas Mountains are finding ways to preserve traditions and still make a living from the land.  Read More

The BJP party-led Indian Government announced on Monday that it was revoking the special status of the area of Kashmir that it administers, putting the region under tighter central Government control. Pakistan argues that the removal of the territory’s special status, which has a majority-Muslim population, violates international law, according to news reports. The UN has long maintained an institutional… Read More

“The reaction to the cataclysmic events of 6 August 1945 was also the beginning of a global push to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again”, Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said on behalf of the UN Secretary-General, speaking at the Hiroshima Annual Peace Ceremony. There is no stronger case for a world free of nuclear weapons… Read More

In a statement, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar called on the international community to impose targeted sanctions and arms embargoes on the Myanmar military.  The mission members declare that their latest report on Myanmar has established, for the first time, the degree to which the country’s military uses its own businesses, foreign companies and arms deals to support “brutal operations” against ethnic groups that constitute “serious crimes under international law”, bypassing civilian oversight and… Read More

The mid-year report from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented  3,812 civilian casualties (1,366 deaths and 2,446 injured) in the first half of 2019.  While the number of civilians killed and injured is 27 per cent down from the same period in 2018 – the year that saw record high numbers of recorded civilian casualties – the UN noted “disturbing patterns”,… Read More

Amina Mohammed was speaking to reporters in the capital Kabul, after leading an all-women delegation of top UN officials for an intensive two-day “solidarity mission”, focussed on women, peace and security. She was joined by UN Political and Peacebuilding Affairs chief, Rosemary DiCarlo, the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Natalie Kanem, and the head of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.  The Deputy Secretary-General… Read More