Tag: Asia News

Victims of Afghanistan’s decades-long armed conflict continue to suffer profound physical, psychological, social and economic consequences, often without access to justice, reparation or formal acknowledgement of the harm done to them, according to a new UN report. Source UN News Read More

In a report released Monday, the mission concluded that killings by security forces “occurred on a massive scale in all provinces” of Iran, during the Government’s “violent crackdown” on mass protests that stretched from last year into this year.  The mission also reported that at least 221 children – some as young as two years old – were killed and… Read More

The warning comes from Sara Netzer, regional director with UN field operations office UNOPS, which provides infrastructure, procurement and project management services across the world.  Fresh from Nepal, she updated journalists in Geneva on the extent of the destruction, how UNOPS and partners have been supporting the response, and the difficulties of building back after devastation.  “As we think about… Read More

Yet, for the people of some low-lying small island States, what is at stake is more than just their houses. Their countries face the possibility of substantial losses of land territory and even complete submergence, which could render them uninhabitable.  Where will they go? What will happen to their nationalities? Their culture?  Global mean sea level is rising and accelerating. By… Read More

Against this backdrop, senior UN officials on Wednesday renewed calls for a durable solution that would enable Rohingya refugees to return home safely and with dignity, while ensuring justice and accountability. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih, a keynote speaker at a high-level event held on the sidelines of the 81st session of the General Assembly, reminded participants that… Read More

He said that cooperating on urgent challenges that confront every country, creating solutions that work for citizens and staying true to the UN’s founding purpose “remains the test of our time” which “we can and we must pass”.    The UN was established eight decades ago “from the ruins of war” by citizens and leaders who vowed to work together… Read More

Addressing the general debate of the Assembly’s 81st session, Mr. Shah said the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli disaster four weeks earlier in northern Nepal had swept through mountain communities with a ferocity described as a “Himalayan Tsunami”. More than 6,000 people remain missing and damage is estimated at around 10 per cent of Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP). “The Bhotekoshi-Trishuli disaster was not… Read More

“For Tuvalu, sea-level rise is not a future threat, it is a present reality,” he said, describing efforts by the Pacific island nation to protect both its physical territory and its identity as the climate crisis transforms its environment. Mr. Teo said Tuvalu had already reclaimed 15.3 hectares of elevated, flood-free land on the capital island of Funafuti through its… Read More

Addressing the high-level debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, he said the inability to maintain peace was “not only weakening security, but is also threatening progress, slowing the pace of development in a globalized world.” Countries distant from conflicts were also paying the price despite bearing no responsibility for them, he added. Gulf tensions Mr. Jaishankar… Read More

Addressing the Assembly’s annual high-level debate, Vice-Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong painted a bleak picture of global affairs, pointing to growing distrust, conflicts, climate-related disasters and socioeconomic pressures. He argued that the United Nations was failing to fulfil its responsibilities because of “high-handedness and unilateralism” by a small number of States and called for greater adherence to the purposes and… Read More