Category: Pacific

As widespread fighting intensifies, UNHCR said that it was particularly concerned about the impact of the conflict on women and girls as “80 per cent of nearly 250,0000 Afghans forced to flee since the end of May are women and children”, said spokesperson Shabia Mantoo. “This is a staggering statistic,” Ms. Mantoo told journalists based at the UN in Geneva.… Read More

“We are particularly concerned about the shift of fighting to urban areas, where the potential for civilian harm is even greater”, Stéphane Dujarric told correspondents at UN Headquarters in New York. The militant group ruled Afghanistan from 1996, up until the invasion of the country in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. It struck a deal with the United States… Read More

The agency welcomed the start of the vaccination drive, in line with national authorities’ broader public health efforts, which began on Tuesday.    “The first step in fully protecting communities…is through the rollout of vaccination”, said Johannes Van Der Klaauw, UNHCR’s Representative in Bangladesh.  Fair distribution  UNHCR stressed that when allocating the vaccines, the equitable inclusion of Rohingya refugees is critical to curbing the spread of the deadly disease.  The drive is being led by the Bangladesh authorities with… Read More

The High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement that there was “fear and dread” across Afghanistan, which had driven people to flee their homes. Women have been flogged and killed in areas overrun by the extremists, while journalists and human rights defenders had also been attacked and killed, Ms. Bachelet said. War crimes Reports of violations that “could amount to… Read More

“The atrocities grow higher by the day,” warned UNICEF Afghanistan Representative Hervé Ludovic De Lys, in a statement. “All of them are children whose right to protection, under international humanitarian law, has been disregarded by warring parties.” ‘People have suffered enough’  Newly appointed UN Humanitarian Affairs chief and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, joined the condemnation of attacks against civilians in… Read More

Amid the “triple impact of poverty, the current political unrest and economic crisis”, coupled with the rapidly spreading third wave of COVID-19, that is “practically like a tsunami that’s hit this country”, the people of Myanmar are “experiencing the most difficult moment in their lives”, WFP Myanmar Country Director Stephen Anderson said, from Nay Pyi Taw.  Hunger doubles WFP needs $86… Read More

“The only guarantee against the use of nuclear weapons is their total elimination”, he said in a video message to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Japan, held on Friday morning, local time.  The annual ceremony commemorates the 6 August 1945 atomic bombing of the city during the Second World War.  The UN chief recalled the impact.  “On this day seventy-six… Read More

UNAMA said civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence as fighting enters cities, according to a post on its official Twitter account.   Deepening concern for Afghan civilians in #Lashkagah as fighting worsens. Latest reports show 118 civilians injured & 40 killed within last 24 hours as Taliban continue ground assault & Afghan Army attempts to repel. UN urges… Read More

So-called “anti-Government elements” targeted entrances of the clearly marked UN facility with rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire just hours after Taliban fighters penetrated Herat city and clashed with Afghan security forces near UNAMA’s provincial headquarters.  “This attack against the United Nations is deplorable and we condemn it in the strongest terms”, said Deborah Lyons, the UN Special Representative for the country.   “Our first thoughts are with the family of the officer slain and we wish… Read More

Speaking to UN News, the organisation’s top aid official in Myanmar, Acting Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator Ramanathan Balakrishnan, described how people have been severely impacted across the country since the junta’s power grab on 1 February. #Myanmar humanitarian update: ▶️Over 220,000 people displaced by conflicts & insecurity since 1 February. ▶️Thousands more impacted by recent floods. ▶️Humanitarian response is ongoing, but constrained… Read More