HONG KONG, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has approved five grants totalling 21.718 million HK dollars (about 2.8 million U.S. dollars) to five relief agencies undertaking relief projects for earthquake victims in Sichuan.

In view of the serious injuries and loss of lives caused by the earthquake in Ya'an City of Sichuan Province, the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, today (April 22) announced that the Government would propose to the Finance Committee (FC) of the Legislative Council an injection of $100 million to the Disaster Relief Fund for donation to the Provincial Government of Sichuan as contribution to their relief work. The Government has already obtained the agreement of the FC Chairman, Mr Tommy Cheung, to convene a special meeting as soon as possible to examine the proposal.

Source:China Meteorological News Press

Yang Xiaohua, member of National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from Hong Kong hopes to see unified early warning signals of natural disasters among mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Yang has worked in Beijing in 1980s and traveled a lot between mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. In face of extreme weather, he always felt troublesome because of different warning signals of same weather in these regions.

Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme

Sixty-third session

Geneva, 1-5 October 2012

Update on UNHCR’s operations in Asia and the Pacific

A. Situational analysis including new developments

The Asia-Pacific region is home to the world’s largest and oldest refugee populations. The protection environment continues to be fragile with very few countries having signed the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Asia remains, however, a region with a good record of providing asylum to large numbers of refugees.

by Ron Corben

BANGKOK — Doctors across Southeast Asia are on alert for outbreaks of a strain of the virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease, responsible for killing scores of children across Asia in recent months. Medical authorities say the peak of the outbreak still has not been reached.

Reports of outbreaks of the virus that causes hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) have cropped up in countries across Asia in recent months, mainly affecting young children.

The hardest hit has been China with more than 1.2 million cases and over 350 deaths.

APEC lends support for health innovation, eyes greater worker productivity, economic sustainability

Issued by the APEC Health Working Group

St Petersburg, Russia, 28 June 2012 – APEC member economies participating in the APEC High-Level Meeting on Health & the Economy Wednesday recognized the urgent need for APEC member economies to invest in the health of their populations at all stages of life in order to fully capture the economic returns of a healthy and productive populations.

The Government has accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee and approved two grants from the Disaster Relief Fund totalling $6 million to World Vision Hong Kong to undertake relief projects for drought victims in Mali and Niger.

Announcing the grants today (May 15), a Government spokesman said that the Committee hoped the two grants - each of $3 million - would help provide relief to the drought victims in the two countries.

The Government has accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee and approved a grant of $2 million from the Disaster Relief Fund to World Vision Hong Kong to undertake a relief project for typhoon victims in the Philippines.

Announcing the grant today (December 30), a Government spokesman said that the Committee hoped that the grant would help provide relief to the typhoon victims in the Philippines.

Honolulu, Hawaii , United States, 11 Nov 2011

We, APEC ministers and senior government officials, along with private sector leaders, met in Honolulu, Hawaii for the High Level Policy Dialogue on Disaster Resiliency, under the chairmanship of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.