Category: Pacific

Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, said a $1.3 billion appeal, launched earlier this year, is less than 40 per cent funded.  Some 18 million Afghans, or half the population, require assistance. A third of the country is malnourished, while half of all children under five are experiencing acute malnutrition.  The $450 million received so far, half of… Read More

Stan Swamy, who was 84, was jailed last October on terrorism charges which UN Special Rapporteur highlighting the work of human rights defenders worldwide, Mary Lawlor, insisted were fabricated. The Jesuit priest faced harassment and repeated interrogations in prison and died in custody on 5 July, despite requests for his release as his health deteriorated, she said. In a statement,… Read More

The agency said that families were fleeing extortion by non-State armed groups and the dangers posed by improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, along major roads. Many also reported a breakdown in welfare support and a loss of income, owing to the rising insecurity. Emergency aid To help those with acute needs, UNHCR and partners have provided newly displaced Afghans with… Read More

According to news reports, at least four have been declared dead, with around 80 still missing, when record high levels of rain fell across the region, triggering the landslide in the residential area. .@antonioguterres is saddened by reports of loss of life & destruction caused by a mudslide in Japan. He extends his deep condolences to the families of the… Read More

The World Heritage Committee, convened under the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the country has not done enough to protect the world’s largest coral reef system from the impacts of climate change.  Climate change and coral bleaching  Despite commitments and progress under a long-term sustainability plan known as Reef 2050, the Great Barrier Reef continues to deteriorate,… Read More

From politics to security, the peace process to the economy, Deborah Lyons, Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said the “possible slide toward dire scenarios is undeniable”.  “The relentless spirit of the Afghans and their incredible resilience is being severely tested”, she said, reminding that what happens there is “of global consequence”, and the Security Council needed to be fully aware of the gravity of the situation.   Unfolding reality  She described the mid-April announcement, led by… Read More

Speaking to journalists following her closed-door briefing to the Council, Christine Schraner Burgener described the situation in Myanmar as “very worrisome” and “very bad”.   Alarming, on the ground  Some 600 people have been killed in the nearly five months since the coup, she said, and 6,000 arrested, with 5,000 still in detention.  Around 100 people have “disappeared” without trace. … Read More

Ms. Bachelet’s appeal follows reports of a continuing military build-up in various parts of the country including Kayah State in the east – where more than 108,000 people have fled their homes in the last three weeks – and in Chin State in the west. This runs contrary to commitments made in April by Myanmar’s military leaders to regional powers… Read More

“Mass deaths from starvation, disease and exposure could occur in Kayah State after many of the 100,000 forced to flee into forests from junta bombs are now cut off from food, water and medicine by the junta. The international community must act”, UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews, tweeted late on Monday. Mass deaths from starvation, disease and exposure… Read More

Ten people were killed, and 16 others injured, when gunmen burst into a demining camp in Baghlan-e-Markazi district and opened fire.  HALO Trust said the attack occurred around 9:50 pm Tuesday, local time, when some 110 men, from local communities in northern Afghanistan, were in the camp after finishing their work on nearby minefields.  Bring perpetrators to justice  In strongly condemning… Read More