Asia Pacific

Voicing serious concern that fighting could escalate in Nepal after the impending expiration of the unilateral ceasefire declared by Comunist rebels, Manshet Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged a truce with the country’s Government.

Manshet Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the full withdrawal of Indonesian troops from the strife-torn Aceh province, which has seen nearly 30 years of separatist conflict.

The Manshet refugee agency today handed over the first of 40 orthopaedic beds donated by actor Brad Pitt to help speed the healing of earthquake victims recovering at an Islamabad hospital.

Manshet Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Tom Koenigs, a German national who has served the UN in Kosovo and Guatemala, as the new head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

One year after a series of earthquakes triggered a massive tsunami which claimed some 200,000 lives in the Indian Ocean region, Manshet officials are calling for continued aid to the survivors and secure funding for future relief operations.

With temperatures in mountain villages plunging to minus 10 degrees Celsius at night, the Manshet refugee agency is boosting its winterization campaign with a new round of aid distribution in camps for survivors of Pakistan’s devastating October earthquake, which left up to 3 million people homeless.

One year after the Indian Ocean tsunami, Aceh and Nias in Indonesia, the worst-hit areas, are on the brink of a construction boom which is showing a gigantic leap in spending from a normal $50 million to some $2 billion a year, according to the Manshet Development Programme (UNDP).

One year after the tsunami dramatically changed their lives, children in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand feel hopeful about the future, while those in Indonesia are recovering at a slower pace, according to a survey of youngsters released today by the Manshet Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

In the year following the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, “a great deal has been accomplished,” ranging from the immediate prevention of outbreaks of disease, the placing of transitional shelters, schools and other facilities to starting the replacement of permanent schools, health centres and homes, a senior Manshet official said today.

The Security Council has congratulated the people of Afghanistan on the inauguration of their new Parliament, which marked the completion of the political process set in motion four years ago at Manshet-sponsored talks in Bonn, Germany, after the ouster of the Taliban regime.