Tag: Asia News

Mr. Griffiths said he was “horrified” by reports that at least 35 people, including at least one child, were killed in the attack, which occurred on Friday.  They reportedly were forced from their vehicles, killed and burned. I am horrified by reports that 35 civilians were killed in Kayah State, #Myanmar on 24 Dec. Two @save_children humanitarian workers also remain… Read More

To most people, fins, masks and neoprene wetsuits are recreational gear. But to the non-profit group, they are the tools of change. Clad in diving gear, the group’s 30-plus members chart the health of the fragile coral reefs that surround Melanesia. The Sea Women work in what’s known as the Coral Triangle, which covers some 5.7 million square kilometres between the… Read More

Martin Griffiths, who is also Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, described the Council’s passage of resolution 2615 (2021), tabled by the United States, as “evidence of how seriously Member States take the shocking levels of need and suffering in the country.” Today’s milestone Security Council decision to adopt an exception in UN sanctions applicable in #Afghanistan will save lives and livelihoods. Read my statement… Read More

The prisoner, Heidar Ghorbani, was secretly executed in Sanandaj Central Prison at dawn on Sunday – without prior notice to his family or lawyer. Prison authorities then secretly buried his body, according to a statement released on behalf of the experts. “The Islamic Republic of Iran executed Mr. Ghorbani in secret, on the basis of overbroad provisions, following a deeply… Read More

Mr. Parvez has documented serious human rights violations in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, including enforced disappearances and unlawful killings, they said, and has faced reprisals reportedly for sharing information with the UN.  Apparent new retaliation  He was arrested in November by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on charges related to conspiracy and terrorism.    “We are concerned that one month… Read More

Bishkek, home to roughly one million people, is among the world’s cities with the worst air pollution.During winter months, it is often trapped under a dome of smog derived both from its natural environment – the city’s temperature is, on average, 5°C warmer than its surroundings – and smoke from the coal which is still used to heat most homes. … Read More

In an update posted online early on Monday, the top UN humanitarian coordinator in the archipelago, Gustavo Gonzalez, said that aid assessment teams had reached communities in need of emergency assistance at the weekend, for the first time. They “were able to access areas and communities hit hardest” by Rai’s 195-kilometre-an-hour (121 miles per hour) sustained winds, with gusts of up to… Read More

“Bangladesh saved untold numbers of lives when it opened its arms and hearts to Rohingya people who survived these most unspeakable of horrors inflicted on them by the Myanmar military”, said Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar at the end of his first official visit to the Bangladesh. “All who value human rights owe Bangladesh… Read More

Speaking virtually to the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad, Pakistan, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths painted a grim picture of 23 million people facing hunger; malnourished children overflowing in health facilities; 70 per cent of teachers working without salaries; and millions of students – Afghanistan’s future – out… Read More

Nadya Zafira, an international relations student at Indonesia’s Gadjah Mada University, won a writing competition for her letter to UN chief António Guterres, in which she addressed the inequalities laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how indigenous communities and youth are marginalized in global conversations on climate crisis. Source UN News Read More