Asia Pacific

​​​​​​​Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Pacific Island Forum Leaders Dialogue, in Fiji today:

The Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine today condemned the deadly attack on Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast on 9 July. Reports are that a municipal dormitory for vulnerable people was hit, killing at least 34 civilians, including a child. Another nine people were rescued from the debris and are now hospitalized.

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs allocated $4 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to respond to the crisis in Mali’s Ménaka region, where armed clashes since March have killed hundreds of people and triggered the displacement of an estimated 56,000 people, nearly two‑thirds of them women and children.

The Secretary-General condemned the attack in Mali which killed two peacekeepers and injured two others after their vehicle — an armoured personnel carrier — hit an improvised explosive device outside of the town of Douentza.  Despite such challenging circumstances, United Nations personnel are continuing their mandated work.

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

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s video message to the Pacific Regional Debt Conference, held online today at 13:00 Fiji time:

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the situation in the northern part of Ethiopia is rapidly deteriorating, amid fighting in and around Dessie and Kombolcha in the Amhara region, which led to large-scale displacement and increasing humanitarian needs.  The two towns were already hosting a large number of displaced people from nearby areas.

The World Health Organization (WHO) released the latest edition of its Mental Health Atlas, which cites a worldwide failure to provide people with the services they need.  It comes as the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts continue to spotlight a growing need for mental health support in countries across the globe.

The Secretary-General told the High‑level Dialogue on Energy that the double imperative of ending energy poverty and limiting climate change could be accomplished by investing in clean, affordable and sustainable energy for all, and by shifting to decarbonizing energy systems and mobilizing finance, to name a few.

Pacific leaders met with United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres on 23 September 2021 in a virtual meeting held on the margins of the high‑level week of the seventy‑sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly.