Tag: Asia News

That’s according to the latest Afghanistan Education Situation report published by the UN’s educational and cultural organization UNESCO and child rights agency UNICEF.  “Afghanistan’s education situation in 2026 is defined by a widening mismatch between strong demand for learning and the capacity of the education system to meet it,” they said.  The school-age population – people aged seven to 18… Read More

Tourists linger at the stalls as the lights come on, lending the square an air of mystery. The Registan is part of historic Samarkand, a UNESCO World Heritage site. But this is more than a city of monuments. People live here; schools, shops and workshops are open, and old neighbourhoods stand alongside new districts. UN News visited ahead of World… Read More

Tourists linger at the stalls as the lights come on, lending the square an air of mystery. The Registan is part of historic Samarkand, a UNESCO World Heritage site. But this is more than a city of monuments. People live here; schools, shops and workshops are open, and old neighbourhoods stand alongside new districts. UN News visited ahead of World… Read More

That is the picture painted by James Heenan, head of the UN human rights office (OHCHR) in the South Korean capital, Seoul. His team monitors the DPRK from beyond its borders because, as he puts it, “almost no one” can get in. Speaking to UN News in New York, Mr. Heenan described a country where hunger remains a constant, forced… Read More

On 26 August, a glacier on the border between Nepal and the Tibet autonomous region of China collapsed, triggering floods that have now claimed more than 1,250 lives and left thousands missing, according to the UN’s office in Nepal. The UN’s local humanitarian team estimate that 84,270 Nepalis – or 19,284 households – were affected by the floods. Devastating toll… Read More

Myanmar has been engulfed in civil war since the military overthrew the democratically elected Government in February 2021, triggering widespread armed resistance across the country.  Special Rapporteur Kelley Anne Eckels-Currie’s new report found that at least 8,384 civilians have been killed by the military since the coup, up until 15 September 2026.  Special Rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the UN… Read More

“Today, the plight of many in Afghanistan is going from bad to worse,” stressed the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk.  “Yet, it seems the world has forgotten and abandoned the people of Afghanistan to a plight deepening by the day,” he said in a statement. “The silence is deafening.” Scaling up the oppression  Mr. Türk deplored the ongoing restrictions… Read More

Key points 1,367 people confirmed dead following the 26 August floods 5,132 people are still missing, including 587 foreign nationals, as search and rescue missions continue 13,646 people have been rescued “The devastation Nepal has experienced is an extraordinary, stark illustration of the losses and damages that climate-vulnerable countries are increasingly facing,” UN Resident Coordinator for Nepal, Lila Pieters Yahia,… Read More

Triggered by glacier collapse, the 26 August floods affected more than 84,000 Nepalis – including about 32,000 children – and damaged critical roads, schools, power grids and water systems across the Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading regions of northern Nepal. Local authorities report more than 1,300 killed and more than 5,000 still missing on the Nepal side of the border, and… Read More

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that the area planted with opium poppy grew by 330 per cent, to more than 43,000 hectares, up from about 10,000 hectares in 2025.  Estimated production rose by 400 per cent, from about 300 tonnes to just under 1,500 tonnes. Both figures remain well below levels before the ban, when some… Read More