Category: Pacific

Filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad received multiple sentences in February last year, including a seven-and-a-half-year prison term, after being convicted on charges relating to an open letter he and others signed calling for the Supreme Leader’s resignation and for constitutional changes, according to a news release by the experts. The Iranian authorities must release him immediately in line with medical opinions and give… Read More

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan witnessed a sharp rise since peace negotiations started in September last year, even though overall deaths and injuries dropped in 2020, compared to the previous year, according to a UN human rights report launched Tuesday.  Source UN News Read More

The Maldives had reported some 29,000 cases of the virus with 72 deaths up until 29 April.   As World Immunization Week comes to an end, Ms. Haswell explains how the UN has supported the authorities in the fight against the pandemic. UN Maldives/Nasheeth Thoha Catherine Haswell, the UN Resident Coordinator in the Maldives (left) meets a group of local… Read More

That level of impoverishment has not been seen in the country since 2005, and the economy is facing significant risks of a collapse, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in its report, COVID-19, Coup d’état and Poverty: Compounding Negative Shocks and their Impact on Human Development in Myanmar. According to @UNDP_Myanmar new report, up to 25 million people in Myanmar… Read More

The number of new infections in India is tipping over 300,000 per day and more than 200,000 have died from the infection, although many there believe the figure could be a lot higher. Anshu Sharma, works for the UN News Hindi service and has filed this personal account, from her base in New Delhi, about living in the shadow of… Read More

“In India’s time of need, the UN is doing everything it can to rapidly provide critical equipment and supplies to central and state governments”, said Resident Coordinator Renata Lok Dessallien.  In India’s time of need, the @UN is doing everything it can to rapidly provide critical equipment & supplies to central and state govts – including 7000+ oxygen concentrators, lab supplies, setting up of… Read More

According to the Office, almost 50 clashes between the military and the Kachin Independence Army were reported in several places in Kachin state, including use of airstrikes by security forces as well as mortar shelling by both sides, displacing nearly 5,000 people and damaging several homes. “Around 800 people returned to their villages of origin within a few days and… Read More

In a statement, the experts said that the appointment process “failed to implement the essential requirements of the Paris Principles, including the need for an open, transparent and participatory process with broad consultations”. ?? #Nepal: UN experts express serious concern for independence & integrity of Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission after recent appointment of new members. The experts urge the… Read More

In an open letter to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, UN-appointed independent expert on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, wrote “this is literally a matter of life or death” for those who believe they can freely exercise this right, “without fear of attack.”  Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing led the coup that brought down the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu… Read More

In a message to the annual session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Secretary-General António Guterres underlined the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as the blueprint for a strong recovery, leaving no one behind. “That starts with universal health coverage and social protection, and decent work.” The UN chief also called for making “peace… Read More