Civil society

In 2023 alone, roughly 260,000 women worldwide died during or shortly after childbirth, with 22 per cent (about 58,000 maternal deaths) occurring in the Asia-Pacific – many of which were preventable with timely midwife-led care.

In the quiet classrooms of Pakistani universities, thousands of Afghan students – many in the last stretch of their advanced degrees – are living with an unrelenting countdown. On 31 August 2025, Pakistan’s government has ordered that all Afghan nationals must leave the country or face arrest and deportation.

The report says that in India, sectors such as manufacturing, customer service, clerical roles, and routine administration are projected to witness the steepest job declines.

The risk of second-order effects from existing tariffs is also rising. A US-India trade deal, if secured, would reduce these risks, Fitch says.

UN-mandated independent investigators have uncovered “systematic torture” in Myanmar’s military-run detention facilities.

The crisis has exposed Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate-driven disasters, underlining a pressing need for international support

Of Islamabad's approximately 41,520 registered Afghan citizens, many retain memories of earlier refuge. Before 2006, some 25,000 had lived in a refugee camp within the Islamabad Capital Territory.

Sri Lanka’s Government has a “historic opportunity” to end decades of impunity and deliver justice for victims of past violations, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) has said, urging sweeping reforms to address crimes committed during and after the country’s civil war.