Asia Pacific

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Fifth Consultative Meeting of Heads of State of Central Asia, in Dushanbe today:

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the thirteenth Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-United Nations Summit, in Jakarta today:

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the seventy-ninth session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), held in Bangkok today:

The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has completed deliveries of critical supplies to two of the Team Sites east of the berm at Tifariti and Mehaires, with the support of the Frente POLISARIO, as well as Morocco. These deliveries will enable the sites to remain operational.

Since last month’s earthquakes, more than 1,070 trucks have crossed into the north-west of Syria from southern Türkiye, carrying aid provided by seven United Nations agencies. Staff have now completed 37 cross-border missions into the north-west since the first inter-agency visit to Idlib on 14 February.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) today released a report showing that economic losses from drought, floods and landslides have rocketed in Asia. According to WMO, in 2021 alone, weather and water-related hazards caused total damage of $35.6 billion, affecting nearly 50 million people.

In Ukraine, the United Nations, NGOs and the entire humanitarian community continue to work to sustain aid operations and reach those impacted by the war with the life-saving support they need. Since February, aid workers have provided critical assistance to some 13.5 million people across all regions of Ukraine.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today released its Adaptation Gap Report, which finds that global efforts in adaptation planning, financing and implementation are not keeping pace with the growing risks.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, in Astana today:

​​​​​​​Pacific Leaders met with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on 23 September 2022 on the margins of the high-level week of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss pressing issues for the Blue Pacific and the international community.