Category: Pacific

The resolution passed unanimously by the 15-member body in New York, calls for the “full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women and girls in Afghanistan”, and urges all countries and organisations with influence on the fundamentalist rulers of the country, “to promote an urgent reversal” of policies which have in effect erased women from public life. Since the Taliban takeover… Read More

“Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have reportedly been ‘transferred’ from their traditional rural lives to low-skilled and low-paid employment since 2015, through a programme described as voluntary, but in practice their participation has reportedly been coerced,” they said in a statement.  ‘Cultural and political indoctrination’  They noted that the labour transfer programme is facilitated by a network of ‘vocational training… Read More

The main driver of these trends is the fertility level in the two nations, said John Wilmoth, Director of the UN Population Division. Together, China and India’s collective populations equal more than one third of the world’s eight billion citizens. By the end of April, India’s population is expected to reach 1,425,775,850 people, with projections indicating further growth for several… Read More

“For indigenous peoples, the land, the forest, water, is life. We depend on the natural environment, and we care for our surroundings. Managing natural resources is a strong part of our way of life. For example, the way we use rotational farming, avoiding monocultures by planting several different many different types of crops on our farmland. In indigenous cultures, we… Read More

“Diplomacy, not isolation, is the only way forward,” the senior official from the Department of Peace Operations said. “The lack of unity and action in the Security Council does little to slow the negative trajectory on the Korean Peninsula.” The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), more commonly known as North Korea, “is unconstrained, and other parties are compelled to… Read More

“UN national personnel – women and men – have been instructed not to report to UN offices, with only limited and calibrated exceptions made for critical tasks,” according to a statement  issued on Tuesday by its office in Afghanistan. The ban is the latest in a series of discriminatory measures that restrict Afghan women and girls from participating in most areas… Read More

Military aircraft dropped bombs and fired on a crowd of people in Kanbulu Township, located in Sagaing Region, who had gathered that morning for the opening of a new town hall, according to media reports.  Guterres condemns attack  UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the attack and called for those responsible to be held accountable, his Spokesperson said in a… Read More

Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, said that amid severe underfunding, the move would “further undermine humanitarian partners’ ability to support the population, especially the most vulnerable such as women and girls”. “The world cannot abandon the people of Afghanistan at this precarious moment,” Dr. Alakbarov insisted, before urging the international community “not to punish the Afghan people… Read More

In statements on Wednesday, Secretary-General António Guterres was joined by deputy chief Amina Mohammed, in describing the latest escalation of the de facto authorities’ suppression of women, as a violation of their inalienable fundamental human rights. “It also violates Afghanistan’s obligations under international human rights law, and infringes on the principle of non-discrimination, which is a core tenet underpinning the United Nations Charter”,… Read More

“Our colleagues on the ground at the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) received word of an order by the de facto authorities that bans female national staff members of the UN from working,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, told reporters at UN Headquarters during the regular daily briefing. “We are still looking into how this development would affect… Read More