Latest news on the Asia-Pacific region from the United Nations
- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today launched a $65-million relief operation to help more than one million internally displaced people in Indonesia competing with a growing urban poor underclass for survival.
- The working conditions of some 30 garment factories in Cambodia, which produce apparel for sale in North America, Europe and developed countries in other regions, showed “encouraging signs of improvement,” according to a new report released today by the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO).
- The East Timor prosecutor's office has issued four indictments for crimes against humanity committed in 1999, including the murder of two local United Nations employees after the popular consultation that year.
- Police officials from East Timor, Australia and Indonesia today held their first-ever trilateral talks to discuss a wide range of regional security issues ahead of the territory's independence next month, the United Nations Transitional Administration (UNTAET) said today.
- Responding to the second flash flood to hit northern Afghanistan over the past two weeks, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today announced that it had sent 9 tons of food aid to some 2,000 people affected by the disaster.
- More than 320,000 Afghans have returned home from neighbouring countries in less than two months, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which assists with the repatriation effort.
- Recognizing the need to sustain the achievements of the past two and a half years in East Timor, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended a continued United Nations presence for two years after the territory's independence in May.
- The head of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor has received the certified results of the territory's recent presidential election, which former guerrilla fighter and independence leader Xanana Gusmão won in a landslide.
- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's proposal for a multinational force in the Middle East would help restore trust between the Israelis and Palestinians that is essential for ensuring the security goals of both sides and restarting the political process, Mr. Annan's top envoy to the region said today.
- The process of demarcating common land borders between Indonesia and East Timor is slated to begin next week, the United Nations mission in the soon-to-be independent nation said today.
- The security situation in the key Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif is "fragile but improving," paving the way for the return of international relief personnel, a United Nations spokesman said today.
- Logistical constraints will push a planned meeting of Afghan factions in Bonn back from Monday to Tuesday, a United Nations spokesman announced today.
- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today launched its first air operation from Tajikistan into Afghanistan in an effort to bring urgently needed aid to more than 274,000 desperately hungry people in remote locations across the northeastern part of the country.