U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central Asia

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Central Asia
IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 31
03 - 09 November 2001


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Axworthy raises humanitarian concerns
AFGHANISTAN: Approach of winter threatens food supply
AFGHANISTAN: Unexploded ordnance a continuing threat
AFGHANISTAN: Information management scaled up for crisis
AFGHANISTAN: Well-known author sees advent of peace
AFGHANISTAN: UNICEF representative warns of rising child deaths
AFGHANISTAN: Fear of further abuses of women's rights
KYRGYZSTAN: Adverse effects of university proliferation
IRAN: Brahimi visits Tehran
IRAN: National disaster meeting to be held in Tehran
IRAN: Community empowerment takes root
PAKISTAN: UNHCR concerned over security in IDP camps
PAKISTAN: UAE ambassador says aid for Afghans forthcoming
PAKISTAN: Long-term Afghan refugees yearn for peace
PAKISTAN: Renewed threats against Christians

AFGHANISTAN: Axworthy raises humanitarian concerns

Former Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy told reporters in the
Pakistani capital, Islamabad, that there had been a preoccupation in the
world media with the military action in Afghanistan, at the expense of the
humanitarian crisis. It was "about time that the humanitarian diplomatic
agenda was brought forward for some serious debate", he said on Tuesday.
Speaking as a member of Oxfam's independent fact-finding mission to the
region, Axworthy added that he feared a lot of people would starve unless
something was done very soon. "My assessment is that the needs [of
Afghans] are not being met, and the crisis should not be allowed to
continue as 'business as usual'," he said. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13575]

AFGHANISTAN: Approach of winter threatens food supply

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has said massive quantities
of food still need to be delivered to the parts of Afghanistan expected to
be cut off by snow within 20 days. A WFP official told IRIN on Tuesday
that one metre of snow had already fallen on the Anjuman Pass, one of two
supply routes into the Northern Alliance-held Panjshir Valley,
northeastern Afghanistan, underlining the fact that the deadline for
transporting food by road into the remoter parts of the country is rapidly
approaching. "It is a massive logistics operation, and they are already
battling against a lack of fuel, trucks and communication coupled with
treacherous mountainous terrain in Afghanistan," a spokeswoman for WFP,
Lindsey Davies, said. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13025]

AFGHANISTAN: Unexploded ordnance a continuing threat

Experts maintain that the ongoing military campaign, with its
controversial use of cluster bombs and the associated displacement of
Afghans into unfamiliar areas, can only dramatically increase civilian
casualty rates. Lloyd Axworthy, speaking on behalf of Oxfam, said that
after having spoken to Afghan women who had recently crossed into
Pakistan, it was clear to him that certain weapons, such as cluster bombs,
were having a dramatic impact on civilians inside Afghanistan. In a
statement on Tuesday, Oxfam called for the protection of civilians to rise
to the top of the agenda for the parties to the conflict. In particular,
Oxfam called for the use of ordnance which had a disproportionate impact
on civilians, such as cluster bombs, to cease. [Full report at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13276]

AFGHANISTAN: Information management scaled up for crisis

With the dramatic escalation of the crisis in the last two months, it has
been recognised that humanitarian information has to be better managed.
Pablo Recalde, Head of Field Information Support at the UN's Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told IRIN on Tuesday that
there had been a need to scale up the information management and sharing
in the wake of the 11 September crisis. In order to maximise international
response, key donors have funded the creation of a Humanitarian
Information Centre and supporting joint logistics cell, based in the
Pakistani capital, Islamabad. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13029]

AFGHANISTAN: Well-known author sees advent of peace

A well-known author and journalist on Afghan affairs, Ahmed Rashid, told
IRIN in an interview on Thursday he was optimistic that the current
alignment of international interest could ultimately lead to peace in
Afghanistan. Despite vested interests re-emerging among Afghanistan's
neighbours, he maintained that, exhausted by endless war, and with
disruptions to the previous war economy, Afghan factions were ready to
turn weapons in for a stake in the country's economic development. Rashid
expected the UN to prioritise humanitarian and development aid, as well as
the revival of civil society and establishment of a broad-based
government. However, he warned that any premature attempts by the
international community to hold warlords accountable for war crimes risked
stalling progress towards future Afghan consensus. [Full report at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12661]

AFGHANISTAN: UNICEF representative warns of rising child deaths

With winter rapidly approaching, the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) has warned of an estimated 100,000 children dying in Afghanistan,
in addition to the 300,000 already dying every year, if sufficient
assistance is not received before crucial routes in the north of the
country are blocked by heavy snowfall. In an interview with IRIN, UNICEF
Special Representative Nigel Fisher said half of the child population in
Afghanistan was already chronically malnourished, and that there could be
a "very serious situation" if crucial amounts of aid was not transported
to the needy in the next few weeks. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13553]

AFGHANISTAN: Fear of further abuses of women's rights

The current situation in Afghanistan could fuel abuses against already
oppressed women there, an Afghan women's rights group told IRIN on Friday.
Marina Matin, of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of
Afghanistan, feared increases in rapes and beatings as the Taliban vented
their anger on their own people. She added that women were already living
under terrible conditions, and the present crisis, occasioned by the
US-led air strikes, was rendering them even more vulnerable, especially
widows. [Full report at http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12654]

KYRGYZSTAN: Adverse effects of university proliferation

With a population of 4.6 million, Kyrgyzstan has over 60 universities, but
beyond the image of an overeducated country lies the reality of poor
standards, corruption and unemployment for the vast majority of Kyrgyz
graduates. Forty of the universities are state-owned, the rest being NGO
or private institutions. While the number of 175,000 students sounds
impressive, education experts agree the country does not need and,
moreover, cannot afford so many institutions of higher education. As a
result, the Kyrgyz education minister announced this month that she would
dissolve 110 faculties of the 60-odd universities in an effort to
rationalise the higher education system. But this would only address a
part of the problem, according to educational experts. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12841]

IRAN: Brahimi visits Tehran

Brahimi told reporters in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Tuesday that the
military campaign had compounded problems for innocent Afghans. Now that
the world had realised that a country like Afghanistan could not be left
to rot with its problems without consequences for the world, the UN's
mission was to see if it could help Afghans avail themselves of the
opportunity, he said. While the "very urgent and dramatic" humanitarian
situation remained the UN's current priority, Brahimi said the
international community "was determined to act on the recognition that a
political solution would be greatly enhanced and reinforced by a
determined, serious, lasting effort to help the people of Afghanistan
reconstruct themselves". He left Tehran on Wednesday following discussions
with government officials on the crisis in Afghanistan. During his visit,
the envoy expressed concern over the impact of the military campaign on
innocent Afghans. [Full report at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13330]

IRAN: National disaster meeting held in Tehran

Government authorities, national experts and UN officials met in Tehran on
Thursday to discuss the preliminary draft of an integrated national
disaster management plan. The UN is assisting the government of Iran in
formulating its first-ever national disaster management plan for the
sustained protection of population, property and development, he
explained. UN sources report that Iran is the sixth most disaster-prone
country in the world, with 4,000 people killed and 55,000 affected
annually by natural disaster in the last 10 years.  [Full report at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12959]

IRAN: Community empowerment takes root

In a country largely known for centralised government planning, the
village of Lazur's community empowerment programme is fast becoming a
model for replication in rural Iran. Initiated by UNDP and the Iranian
government in 1998, the programme aims to facilitate long-term
sustainability for projects by having direct participation of the
beneficiaries. To date, community representatives from other provinces,
including Arak, Shiraz and Tabriz, have visited this small village outside
the Iranian capital in the hopes of duplicating the concept in their home
provinces. [Full report at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12958]

PAKISTAN: UNHCR concerned over security in IDP camps

An official of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) told IRIN on Thursday that there was growing concern over
security in camps inside Afghanistan for internally displaced people
(IDPs), following the death of a 12 year-old boy shot at a site near the
Iranian border. The incident took place at the Mahkaki camp in
Afghanistan's southern province of Nimruz, where some 5,000 Afghan IDPs
are living. Spokeswoman for UNHCR in Iran, Millicent Mutuli, told IRIN
that the circumstances of the shooting remained unclear as UNHCR were not
present in the camp. However, she added that it could be linked to reports
of an armed Taliban presence inside the Mahkaki camp. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13595]

PAKISTAN: UAE ambassador says aid for Afghans forthcoming

One of three countries to formally recognise the Taliban regime, the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) severed diplomatic ties with the Taliban
following the events of 11 September. The UAE Ambassador to Pakistan, Ali
Mohammed Al Shamsi, told IRIN on Thursday that his country would commit
itself in helping to ease the suffering of innocent Afghans as the
humanitarian crisis in their country looked set to worsen in the winter
months. Shamsi urged the international community to step up and speed up
aid for those trapped inside. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13586]

PAKISTAN: Long-term Afghan refugees yearn for peace

Afghan refugees who settled years ago in Pakistani cities have expressed
dismay at the ongoing chaos in their homeland. It is estimated that as
many as 200,000 Afghans live in the vicinity of Karachi, often in
makeshift mud huts. The refugees in Mohajir camp, near Karachi, maintain
that they are moderate Muslims, devoid of any extremism. Many told IRIN
that the warlords should put their differences aside and restore peace to
Afghanistan. Most said they aspired to return home one day. A welder,
Mohammad Shoaib, 31, who also left Baghlan Province seven years ago, said
Afghans had been the victims of war for more than two decades. "Our
support goes to whoever it may be - the US, Northern Alliance or the
Taliban - who can ensure peace," he said. [Full report at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13183]

PAKISTAN: Renewed threats against Christians

A Pakistan-based human rights group is worried about increasing attacks on
Christians in the country following a number of recent threats received by
them in the south of Punjab Province. The concern follows an attack on 28
October at a local church in which 16 people were killed. Aftab Multan,
the executive secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission in Multan,
told IRIN on Monday that Islamic extremists had been hanging banners
calling on Muslims to kill Christians as part of their religious duty in
parts of Pakistan's Punjab Province. There was mounting resentment towards
the Christian community and those linked with the West, he said, adding
that there was a misconception among Muslims that Pakistani Christians
were somehow linked with the US [attacks]. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12871]


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2001


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