Category: Pacific

“Sri Lanka’s economic collapse needs immediate global attention, not just from humanitarian agencies, but from international financial institutions, private lenders and other countries who must come to the country’s aid,” they said in statement.  The nine experts expressed alarm over record high inflation, rising commodity prices, power shortages, a crippling fuel crisis and economic collapse, as the country grapples with… Read More

In a statement issued on Friday on behalf of the UN in Sri Lanka, Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer, said that it was “imperative that the transition of power is accompanied by broad and inclusive consultation within and outside Parliament.” According to news reports, Mr. Rajapaksa offered his resignation after fleeing the country and arriving in Singapore, having first flown to the Maldives on Wednesday… Read More

Ms. Ressa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her work defending freedom of expression as a co-founder of independent news outlet Rappler, was convicted of “cyber libel” in 2020. It followed publication of an article on alleged corruption involving the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the Philippines. The ruling by the Court of Appeal… Read More

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has yet to comment publicly on the occupation of his residence, along with that of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, but the Prime Minister’s office reportedly said it had been informed that the President planned to step down on Wednesday. President Rajapaksa has become the focus for widespread protests in recent months over dire food, fuel and medical… Read More

Cambodia, which has a wealth of medicinal plants native to the country, has a real potential to benefit from bioprospecting, but is at risk of a variety of threats, such as the overexploitation of plants, overharvesting of forest products, and climate change.] However, since 2011, the UN has been helping Cambodia, and other countries, to better manage their resources, conserve… Read More

As prices keep healthy meals out of reach, some 61 per cent of households are regularly using coping strategies to cut down on costs, such as reducing the amount they eat and consuming increasingly less nutritious meals.  And with opportunities to make enough income in the medium to long-term decreasing for an estimated 200,000 families, the UN food relief agency… Read More

“The reports we have received about serious violence, including killings, during the protests are very concerning,” said High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, while calling on authorities to “exercise utmost restraint”.  Death toll According to the Prosecutor General’s office, 18 people were killed and 243 injured, including 94 seriously, during the clashes between protesters and security forces in the regional capital, Nukus.… Read More

It comes as the top UN rights forum in Geneva agreed to Member States’ request for a rare Urgent Debate on the issue this Friday. Addressing the Council, Fawzia Koofi, former deputy speaker of the Afghan Parliament, said lack of opportunity and ailing mental health, was taking a terrible toll. “The fact that girls as young as nine years old… Read More

Three months since his last update to the UN rights forum in Geneva, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, said that he’d met youngsters who’d fled the country after suffering “irreparable harm”.  Empty seat  Myanmar – whose seat was empty in the Council – “passed several grim milestones since March”, he continued: “more than… Read More

“Yesterday’s visit reaffirmed to me both the extreme suffering of people in Afghanistan and their tremendous resolve in the face of great adversity,” said Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan. The UN and partners have developed a three-month emergency appeal, included within their humanitarian plan for Afghanistan this year, to respond to… Read More