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

Tel: +92-51-2211451 Ext 484 
Fax: +92-51-2211 450 
e-mail: irin@irin.org.pk


Central Asia
IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 103
15 - 21 March 2003


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: NGO concern over new regulatory framework
AFGHANISTAN: ICG calls for action to uphold women’s rights
AFGHANISTAN: UN announces 48 hours security alert
AFGHANISTAN: Interview with interior minister
AFGHANISTAN: Focus on looted antiquities
IRAN: Agencies gear up for possible influx
IRAN: Information campaign vital for Afghan returnees
PAKISTAN: New refugee agreement
PAKISTAN: Release of jihad prisoners from Afghanistan welcomed
TAJIKISTAN: Constitutional referendum set for June
TAJIKISTAN: UNDP assists in local government reforms
UZBEKISTAN: Rights groups applaud EBRD decision 
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap


AFGHANISTAN: NGO concern over new regulatory framework

NGOs in the Afghan capital, Kabul, have expressed concern over the
government's new regulations governing NGOs, after a two-day consultative
group meeting of the Afghanistan Development Fund(ADF). The move has been
prompted in part by a perception that aid agencies in Afghanistan are not
delivering results rapidly enough. The ADF announced last Friday that from
now on, NGOs would operate in accordance with a specific legislative
framework put together by the Afghan planning ministry.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32928&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: ICG calls for action to uphold women’s rights

The International Crisis Group (ICG), a respected advocacy group based in
the Belgian capital Brussels, has called for a coherent policy on gender
issues in Afghanistan following the publication of an ICG report examining
the role of women in reconstruction under the new government. "Over the
past year, there is very little indication that a durable policy of gender
mainstreaming is taking place," Vikram Parekh, the senior analyst for the
ICG told IRIN from the capital, Kabul. "We have seen an absence of policy,
and rather a series of uncoordinated, high-visibility projects with little
indication that they will be sustainable," he said, describing the
international community's projects and efforts as at best symbolic.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32946&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: UN announces 48 hours security alert

Following the start of hostilities in Iraq, the United Nations in
Afghanistan on Thursday announced a 48-hour precautionary security alert
and instructed staff to stay away from places of work for two days. "It
was a precaution from our part, hence we requested our people to stay home
for a day or two," the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for
Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, told IRIN in the Afghan capital Kabul. "This
is just a security precaution, we are not contemplating shutting down," he
said mentioning that essential staff were still working.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32961&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: Interview with interior minister

One of the key challenges facing the Afghan government is ensuring peace
and security in a country devastated by over two decades of war. If that
challenge is not met, experts warn that international assistance will
never have the necessary impact for long-term sustainability. In an
interview with IRIN, Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, appointed
almost two months ago, shared some of his concerns regarding security in
the country, as well as details of efforts to improve it.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?
ReportID=32963&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: Focus on looted antiquities

In 1995, a farmer in Tang-e Safedak, a remote area of central Afghanistan,
came upon a subterranean chamber where he stumbled upon a treasure trove.
In the middle of the three-metre-square chamber was a stone box containing
a book, about 20 gold coins, gold and glass ornaments and a diamond,
described by its finder as the size of a golf ball. On the wall of the
chamber bore an inscription in the Bactrian language, which, when
translated, indicated that the people of the area had sealed the chamber
because they were being attacked by Arabs.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32866&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

IRAN: Agencies gear up for possible influx

With war in Iraq now underway, international aid agencies in Iran were
working hard on Thursday to boost preparedness levels in the event of a
refugee influx. About 1.3 million Iraqi refugees crossed the border into
Iran during the 1991 Gulf War. "It is difficult to predict the number of
Iraqis coming over into Iran, but we are preparing to provide humanitarian
assistance," the spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP), Ramin
Rafirasme, told IRIN in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32949&SelectRegion=Iraq_Crisis&SelectCountry=IRAN

IRAN: Information campaign vital for Afghan returnees

With the number of Afghan returnees from Iran expected to approach half a
million this year under the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees’ (UNHCR) voluntary repatriation programme, aid workers and
Afghans themselves say the need for accurate information about the
situation in their homeland is vital. "I want to go back to help rebuild
my country, but I need to know what to expect when I get there as my
family and I have been living away from home for so long," Afghan refugee,
Ahmadullah Rehman told IRIN in the heart of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32879&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN

PAKISTAN: New refugee agreement honours principle of voluntary
repatriation

The governments of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday signed a tripartite agreement
facilitating the return home of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees
from Pakistan in three years. "This agreement provides a framework for the
final resolution of the 23-year-old question of Afghan refugees in
Pakistan," spokesman for UNHCR, Jack Redden, told IRIN in Pakistan's
capital, Islamabad on Monday. "If this agreement is carried through we
will be approaching the final solution of this issue as most of the
refugees would have gone back," he said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32867&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: Release of jihad prisoners from Afghanistan welcomed

Pakistan's government and human rights activists have welcomed Sunday's
announcement by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that hundreds of Pakistani
jihad, or holy war, prisoners detained following the collapse of the
Taliban in 2001 are to be released. They went to Afghanistan to fight
alongside the Taliban rulers against the US-led anti-terror coalition, and
were captured after the collapse of the regime.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32924&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

TAJIKISTAN: Constitutional referendum set for June

Tajikistan's parliament on Wednesday said the country would hold a
referendum in June on proposed changes to its constitution. "These are
positive developments, and for us the most important thing will be that
nothing in the constitution is changed that affects the peace, security
and the progress towards democracy in the country," Vladimir Sotirov, the
representative in Tajikistan of the UN secretary-general, told IRIN from
the Tajik capital, Dushanbe on Thursday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32972&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN

TAJIKISTAN: UNDP assists in local government reforms

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is helping the Tajik
government draft a new law on local government with a view to initiating
much-needed reform, IRIN learnt on Tuesday. Local government currently
only has limited capacity due to insufficient funding, and the legal
framework governing its institutions does not cover some informal
structures at community level. The roles and responsibilities of different
levels of government are not clearly defined, leading sometimes to
duplication and inefficiency.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32904&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN

UZBEKISTAN: Rights groups applaud EBRD decision

Rights groups have welcomed a decision by the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) linking investment in Uzbekistan to
an improvement in its much criticised human rights record. "The specific
bench marks they have spelled out are certainly very welcome," Matilda
Bogner, office director for Human Rights Watch (HRW) in the Uzbek capital
Tashkent told IRIN. "It's great that the European bank has taken these on
board and are pushing for specific improvements."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32903&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

In Central Asia this week Tashkent received a boost to its fight against
drugs with an announcement that Washington will disburse over US $10m
dollars to Uzbek authorities towards the eradication of drug trafficking.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the
Soros-Kazakhstan Foundation the Open Society Institute in Uzbekistan and
the Open Society Institute in Tajikistan will implement the anti-drug
programme, Interfax reported on Wednesday. The programme focuses on a
healthy lifestyle and developing state policy for preventing drug-abuse.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32993&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


IRIN-Asia
Tel: +92-51-2211451
Fax: +92-51-2292918
Email: IrinAsia@irin.org.pk

[This Item is Delivered to the "Asia-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to
change your keywords, contact e-mail: IRIN@ocha.unon.org or Web:  
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this
item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003


distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
    Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Central Asia                       www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/casia