Weekly Round-Up - IRINCAS-84: 08-Nov-02
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 84
02 - 08 November 2002
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Shocking maternal mortality rates revealed by UNICEF
PAKISTAN: Relief effort underway following northern quake
PAKISTAN: Situation under control in quake-hit north
PAKISTAN: Government defends defamation announcement
PAKISTAN: Diaspora raises US $2.5 million for poverty alleviation
KYRGYZSTAN: Mountain summit - an important step
TAJIKISTAN: Aid community welcomes new road link to Afghanistan
TAJIKISTAN: Anger at forced conscription of journalists
TAJIKISTAN: Rural projects change thousands of lives
CENTRAL ASIA: Interview with UNESCO Director Koichiro Matsuura
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
AFGHANISTAN: Shocking maternal mortality rates revealed by UNICEF
Shocking statistics on maternal mortality rates in Afghanistan were
revealed on Thursday in the Afghan capital, Kabul, following a survey
conducted by UNICEF and the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). "These figures are shocking and confirm what we had already
suspected. But we now have the hard evidence," UNICEF spokesman in Kabul,
Chulho Hyun, told IRIN. The survey, the largest ever of its kind, was
carried out in four Afghan provinces Kabul, Laghman, Kandahar and
Badakhshan in order to highlight a range of different conditions in rural
and urban areas. It was discovered that Badakhshan had the highest rate of
maternal mortality. "To be a women in this province really is a matter of
life and death," Hyun warned.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30819&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
PAKISTAN: Relief effort underway following northern quake
Rescue efforts continued on Monday after an earthquake killed at least 10
people and injured dozens more this weekend in remote northern Pakistan.
"As we are still assessing the situation, the casualty figure remains
unclear," Muhammad Ilyas Khan, the director-general of the government's
emergency relief cell, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
"Once we are able to fully assess the situation, we expect that number to
rise." Measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, the quake, which struck in the
early hours of Saturday, devastated 250 homes, impacting [on] some 3,000
people, he explained.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30731&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Situation under control in quake-hit north
While relief efforts to assist those affected by last weekend's earthquake
in northern Pakistan continue, the government maintains there is no need
for international assistance at the moment. Eleven people were killed and
some 40 injured when a series of three moderate earthquakes rocked the
remote region near the northern city of Gilgit. The largest jolt,
measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, was timed by the United States
Geological Survey as having taken place at around 06:30 local time on
Saturday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30783&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Government defends defamation announcement
The Pakistani government has defended its warning to the country's media
to refrain from quoting or publishing reports from what it terms a "news
website originating outside the country". The website in question - an
electronic version of the South Asia Tribune has been operated by a
Pakistani journalist, Shaheen Sehbai, living in exile in the US since
March this year. He left Pakistan after he said he was under threat from
President Musharraf's government. However, the announcement did not refer
to Sehbai or his website by name.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30781&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Diaspora raises US $2.5 million for poverty alleviation
Pakistanis living outside the country have raised US $2.5 million for a
unique poverty alleviation project run by the government of Pakistan, in
collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "There
is a great desire on the part of Pakistanis worldwide now they have a new
vision and see Pakistan as a new country in the 21st century," chairman of
the national commission on human development, Dr Nasim Ashraf, told IRIN
on Monday. "I have lived in America for 30 years and have moved back with
my family because I have faith in the new leadership," he added. There are
more than 1.5 million Pakistanis living in 76 countries - including the
Gulf states and Europe. Established and prosperous communities of
expatriate Pakistanis exist in many North American, Canadian and north
European cities.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30732&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Mountain summit - an important step for highland people
"We are all mountain people!" This was the recurring cry at the Global
Mountain Summit, held last week in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. Over 600
people from 60 countries came together for four days here, in what was the
first-ever meeting of its kind, which also led to important donor pledges
for mountain-development programmes in Central Asia. The summit was
organised by the government of Kyrgyzstan, with support from the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and others. Its main output was the
Bishkek Mountain Platform, which outlines the challenges facing
mountainous countries and regions, as well as frameworks for addressing
these issues.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30759&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Aid community welcomes new road link to Afghanistan
Humanitarian workers in Tajikistan have welcomed the opening of a bridge
that provides a new route for vehicles carrying aid and goods in and out
of war-ravaged Afghanistan. The bridge, opened by Tajik President Emomali
Rahmonov and Prince Aga Khan IV, leader of the Shi'ite Ismaili Muslims, is
the first vehicle bridge to span the Pyandzh river between the countries.
Vehicles can now be driven from Kyrgyzstan and Russia to Khorog in
Tajikistan, then on to the Afghan capital, Kabul, through northeastern
Afghanistan. The bridge has been largely funded by the philanthropic
prince, who has given more than US $30 million in aid to various projects
in Tajikistan since 1994.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30762&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Anger at forced conscription of journalists
An international organisation working for press freedom in Tajikistan,
Internews, has protested the arrest and forced conscription of nine TV
journalists in the northern Tajik city of Khujand a week ago. Six of the
nine journalists arrested were subsequently released, but three were
reportedly forcefully recruited into the military. Internews is hoping
diplomatic and legal measures will help get the journalists freed. The
journalists, from the independent TRK-Asia and SM-1 TV stations in
Khujand, were arrested after taking part in an Internews TV talk show
production training workshop in the city late last month.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30733&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Rural projects change thousands of lives
It's a special day for 53-year-old Karimov Pulad. His son's car leading a
wedding cortege was the first vehicle to cross a newly reconstructed
bridge in the Varzob district, some 35 km north of the Tajik capital,
Dushanbe. Prior to this, his village, called Begar, was cut off from the
main highway across the River Varzob in the rainy seasons of spring and
autumn until the US-based NGO, CARE helped rehabilitate the bridge. Pulad
said the bridge had changed the lives of hundreds of people in his
village. "I am very happy because we depend on the bridge so much for
movement," he told IRIN.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30818&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Interview with UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura
Central Asia - at the crossroads of civilization for centuries - is of
huge archaeological and cultural significance. In an interview with IRIN
in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, the visiting Director-General of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO),
Koichiro Matsuura, said his organisation would assist former Soviet
republics in reviving and preserving their rich cultural heritage. He
added that a cultural revival in countries like Afghanistan could
contribute to reconciliation.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30758&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
An opposition journalist and human rights activist in Kazakhstan has been
formally charged with raping a 14-year-old girl, AP reported on Friday.
Sergei Duvanov has been on a hunger strike since his detention last week
for the alleged incident and his health is said to be deteriorating. The
newspaper editor was arrested the night before he was due to leave for the
US for meetings with human rights and journalist protection groups. The
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the
continent's top democracy and human rights body, said it was "alarmed by
the situation and the facts" surrounding the case.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30830&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
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