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 119
05 - 11 July 2003


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Pakistani embassy ransacked by protesters
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Early monsoon rains bring death and floods
CENTRAL ASIA: Interview with OSCE personal envoy, Martti Ahtisaari
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KYRGYZSTAN: Poor harvest could spell dietary problems in south
KYRGYZSTAN: HIV/AIDS continues to spread in prisons
PAKISTAN: Special Report on the struggle for land ownership in Punjab
PAKISTAN: Mixed reaction to embassy attack in Kabul
PAKISTAN: Interview with UNDP resident representative
PAKISTAN: Major boost to reproductive health from UNFPA
TAJIKISTAN: School feeding projects improving education standards
TAJIKISTAN: Interview with head of UNICEF
TAJIKISTAN: Interview with the Deputy Minister of Emergencies
TURKMENISTAN: Focus on education

AFGHANISTAN: Pakistani embassy ransacked by protesters

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan hit a further low on Tuesday
when a group of Afghans, protesting alleged recent border incursions by
Pakistani forces, broke into the Pakistan embassy compound in the Afghan
capital, Kabul, smashing windows and burning furniture and equipment. No
embassy staff were hurt in the incident. "There was a mob that attacked
our embassy in the morning around 9:30 a.m., and in 45 minutes they caused
extensive damage," Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan, Rustam Shah
Mohmand, told IRIN.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35261&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN]

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Early monsoon rains bring death and floods

Summer rains have hit an unprepared Afghanistan, causing an estimated 100
deaths, while in Pakistan they have inflicted extensive damage on
buildings and crops. Salim Bahramand, head of international relations with
the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS), told IRIN from the capital, Kabul,
on Thursday that initial estimates showed dozens had been killed or were
missing and presumed dead. The final toll has not yet been made official,
but the ARCS estimates that deaths across the country from flooding may
have topped 100. The most severely affected provinces, according to
Bahramand, are Panjshir Valley in the central Kapisa province, and the
central Lowgar and southeastern Paktia provinces.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35323&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN]

CENTRAL ASIA: Interview with OSCE personal envoy, Martti Ahtisaari

As personal envoy of Chairman-in-Office for the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Netherlands Foreign Minister Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer in Central Asia, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari
holds a unique position. Among the five Central Asian nations, all members
of the OSCE, the recently appointed veteran diplomat strives to maintain
dialogue with the newly established states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35331&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA]

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

This week started with a summit of four of the five Central Asian
countries in the largest Kazakh city of Almaty, where leaders pledged to
combat the flow of illicit drugs, terrorism and Islamic extremism across
the region. "Separately our nations cannot fight these evils," Kazakh
President Nursultan Nazarbayev told journalists after meeting with his
counterparts from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It was reported
on Saturday that the first case of a death of an HIV infected person was
registered in Semipalatinsk, East Kazakhstan Region. Interfax-Kazakhstan
news agency stated that there had been 3,506 HIV cases as of April 2003
and over 80 HIV/AIDS related deaths had been registered in the country
since the first HIV/AIDS cases was registered in 1987.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35338&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA]

KYRGYZSTAN: Poor harvest could spell dietary problems in south

Poor harvests in southern Kyrgyzstan could result in serious dietary
problems, especially for children and older people, local officials warn.
An increase in the price of fruit, following heavy spring rains, is likely
to result in a lack of vitamins in the diet of local people, generally
used to an abundance of fruit and vegetables."If the harvest is sufficient
for ourselves for the winter we will be lucky," 63-year-old Marip
Kozubaev, owner of an apple farm near the southern city of Osh, told IRIN
in despair.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35295&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN]

KYRGYZSTAN: HIV/AIDS continues to spread in prisons

HIV/AIDS continues to take its toll in Kyrgyz prisons. Of the total number
of people infected throughout the country, the vast majority are convicts
and injecting drug users, particularly in the southern Kyrgyz province of
Osh. Andrei (who declined to use his real name), aged 42, was released
from prison last year. There he tested HIV positive after a routine
medical check-up. "[I got infected] either in prison or before going to
jail. We used to inject drugs in groups before and after," he said.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35239&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN]

PAKISTAN: Special Report on the struggle for land ownership in Punjab

In this special report IRIN looks at the situation on the military farms
in the district of Okara, about 100 km south of Lahore, the capital of
Punjab Province. Here a movement by landless peasants to lay ownership
claims to the lands they - and their ancestors - have tilled for nearly a
century has entered its third year without a solution in sight. A
three-year dispute between landless peasants demanding their right to
ownership of the lands they have cultivated for generations, and the
Pakistani government has already led to the loss of several lives, the
result, civil and human rights groups allege, of repression by the
military administration - a charge staunchly denied by the government.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35213&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN]

PAKISTAN: Mixed reaction to embassy attack in Kabul

Following an apology from Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the ransacking
of the Pakistani embassy in Kabul on Tuesday, government officials, peace
activists, Afghan refugees and regional experts have expressed mixed
reactions to the incident. "This was a regrettable incident but we are
trying to repair the damage. For us the most important thing is the
removal of any misunderstandings that arise, and we have been assured that
our embassy and consulates will be given full protection," Masood Khan,
spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Office told IRIN on Wednesday.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35301&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN]

PAKISTAN: Interview with UNDP resident representative

More than 30 percent of Pakistan's 150-million population still live in
poverty, despite the significant financial gains of siding with the US-led
anti-terrorist alliance and improved fiscal management by the government.
Over the past three years the country's economy has improved with US $10
billion in foreign exchange reserves, but illiteracy levels remain high,
and diseases are increasing, with child mortality the highest in South
Asia. In an interview with IRIN, the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) resident representative and UN overall country coordinator, Onder
Yucer, said the UN agencies in the country were working hard to help the
people and the government to improve healthcare, food security,
governance, education and gender equality.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35321&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN]

PAKISTAN: Major boost to reproductive health from UNFPA

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will spend US $35 million on
providing reproductive health care in Pakistan over the next five years,
the organisation's representative to the country told IRIN in the capital,
Islamabad. Dr Olivier Brasseur announced the funding on Monday, ahead of
World Population Day on Friday, when the UNFPA will release its "Pakistan
Population Assessment 2003" report. Brasseur said most of the money would
be targeted at two main issues identified in the document - the high level
of maternal mortality and high fertility rates.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35265&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN]

TAJIKISTAN: School feeding projects improving education standards

Bright-eyed and quiet, 11-year-old Zainab Ravanova likes reading folk
stories. "I love stories and poems, they have always fascinated me," she
told IRIN at the Oktiab village school in Shahrinov district, west of the
Tajik capital, Dushanbe. Ravanova's father died ten years ago in the
brutal 1992-1997 civil war. Now her mother, three sisters and a brother
share a difficult life in a run-down house in Oktiab. Thanks to CARE
International's school feeding project, Ravanova and her siblings are
continuing their education.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35254&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN]

TAJIKISTAN: Interview with head of UNICEF

Nearly 70 percent of Tajikistan's population of 6.2 million are under 30
years of age. This young nation faces high child mortality, disease,
violence and discrimination. Moreover, it is one of the 20 poorest
countries in the world. With more than 80 percent of its population living
on less than US $10 per person per month. Women and children are most
vulnerable. In an interview with IRIN, the head of the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) for Tajikistan, Yukie Mokuo, said the country had
a long way to go, and needed continued reforms to enhance social
protection for its children and reverse declining education standards.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35299&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN]

TAJIKISTAN: Interview with the Deputy Minister of Emergencies

With a landscape dominated by mountains, Tajikistan is prone to natural
disasters such as earthquakes, floods and landslides. Such disasters
regularly create emergencies in the former Soviet Central Asian republic.
As the country's Deputy Minister of Emergencies and Civil Defence,
Abdurahim Radjabov faces daunting challenges with little resources in
hand. In an Interview with IRIN, Radjabov maintained that the rising water
levels in Sarez lake could threaten millions in Tajikistan, as well as in
neighbouring Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35227&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN]

TURKMENISTAN: Focus on education

Usman is concerned about his son's education. The 30-year-old engineer
recently returned to Turkmenistan to work in the gas industry after
studying and working in Europe. But now he is considering leaving again,
because his son has started returning from school chanting slogans
praising President Saparmyrat Niyazov. "What has disturbed me is that
Maksat is basically being brainwashed. All he learns is passages from the
'Ruhnama' [Niyavoz's book that has become the principal text in Turkmen
schools] and has started telling me off because he has memorised more of
the book than me," he told IRIN in the capital, Ashgabat.

[For a full copy of this report see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35296&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN]


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