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Integrated Regional Information Network for Central Asia

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Central Asia
IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 126
23 - 29 August 2003


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: First drug interdiction unit established
AFGHANISTAN: Interview with finance minister
AFGHANISTAN: Serious attack on girl's school
CENTRAL ASIA: Landlocked nations' summit to open in Almaty
CENTRAL ASIA: Water conference may encourage regional approach
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
UZBEKISTAN: Rights group wants aid monitored
IRAN: Afghan repatriation clears the 500,000 mark
KAZAKHSTAN: Disturbing health statistics from nuclear Semipalatinsk
PAKISTAN: New study shows half the population lacks safe water
PAKISTAN: People return to relief camps as monsoon hits Sindh again
PAKISTAN: Grounded oil tanker still presents environmental threat
PAKISTAN: Averting Sindh-Punjab water wars
PAKISTAN: Focus on gender differences in education
PAKISTAN: "Waiting area" refugees subjected to negative policies, says MSF
PAKISTAN: More aid needed as flood-affected region tries to recover
PAKISTAN: Poverty worsens as investment stagnates - ADB report
PAKISTAN: Refugee iris identification centre to close

AFGHANISTAN: First drug interdiction unit established

Afghanistan's first drug interdiction unit came a step closer to
realisation with the interior ministry and the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) signing an agreement to establish the department
within the ministry. "This is the first interdiction unit to be
established. The government is very supportive of this project," Adam
Bouloukos, UNODC's deputy representative, Adam Bouloukos told IRIN from
the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Tuesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36202&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: Interview with finance minister

One of the major challenges facing the fledgling Afghan government is the
collection of taxes and revenues from the provinces, which are still
largely dominated by powerful warlords and local commanders. In an
interview with IRIN, Dr Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan finance minister, said
the government's ability generate revenue from the provinces was gradually
improving and that its target of raising income of US $200 million this
financial year was realisable.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36255&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: Serious attack on girl's school

Following a violent arson attack on an EU-funded girls' school in Masa'i
District, 24 km from the capital, Kabul, on Tuesday, education officials
said that the incident would probably serve to keep 90 percent of its
pupils away from the school. "Following the attack on our school, we are
only expecting maybe 10 percent of girls to come after the break,"
Amanullah, the headmaster of Sufla High School, told IRIN in Masa'i on
Saturday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36181&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

CENTRAL ASIA: Landlocked nations' summit to open in Almaty

A United Nations conference to address ways of mitigating the special
problems faced by landlocked countries - the first ever to discuss this
topic - is set to open in the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty, on
Thursday. "Lack of territorial access to the sea, remoteness and isolation
from world markets, and high transit costs continue to impose serious
constraints on the overall socioeconomic development of landlocked
developing countries," the resident representative for the UN in
Kazakhstan, Fikret Akcura, told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36201&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA

CENTRAL ASIA: Water conference may encourage regional approach

An international conference on fresh water facilitated by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is set to take place this weekend in
Tajikistan, and may go some way to solving pressing disputes in Central
Asia. This year is the International Year of Fresh Water under the theme
of "Water, Environment and Security". "Tajikistan initiated this
[conference] due to the fact that though it has huge water resources in
Central Asia, the water problems are of huge importance," Jalil Buzrukov,
the coordinator of the working group organising the conference, told IRIN
from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36231&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

A prominent human rights activist in Uzbekistan was severely beaten by
unknown assailants in the capital, Tashkent, on Thursday. Surat Ikramov,
the leader of an independent human rights group, was admitted to hospital
with concussion, two broken ribs and numerous bruises. Ikramov is said to
have told reporters from his hospital bed that four men had beaten him for
an hour. "I was expecting it," he said, adding that he had been getting
threats on the phone before the incident. Earlier this month in
Uzbekistan, Ruslan Sharipov, a human rights acitivist and a journalist,
who has been critical of Uzbek law-enforcement bodies, was sentenced to
five and a half years in jail by an Uzbek court for having gay sex with
two under aged boys. Some rights activist argued that the trial was
politically motivated.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36280&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA

UZBEKISTAN: Rights group wants aid monitored

Heart to Heart International, a global humanitarian organisation working
to serve the needs of the poor around the world by promoting health and
alleviating hunger, has delivered humanitarian aid, pharmaceuticals and
medical supplies worth US $6.7 million to Uzbekistan, the most populous
Central Asian country. But a human rights group wants to see stricter
monitoring of aid to countries like Uzbekistan. "We've worked very closely
with the ministry of health in Uzbekistan. We've got an on-site
coordinator and a group called PERDCA [the Project on Economic Reform and
Development in Central Asia]," Barbi Moore, the organisation's senior
vice-president for international programmes, told IRIN from Oklahoma city,
adding that PERDCA was their programme through the US State Department,
which had asked them to go to Uzbekistan to deliver aid.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36279&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


IRAN: Afghan repatriation clears the 500,000 mark

Voluntary repatriations of thousands of Afghan refugees are continuing,
with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Iran
reporting that over a half a million had left that country. "The
repatriation programme to Afghanistan from Iran is working well," a UNHCR
spokeswoman, Marie-Helene Verney, told IRIN from the capital, Tehran.
Numbers were smaller than last year, but that was to be expected
considering the vast number of repatriations earlier on, she said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36180&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN

KAZAKHSTAN: Disturbing health statistics from nuclear Semipalatinsk

A former nuclear testing area in Semipalatinsk, a town in northern
Kazakhstan, continues to adversely affect the health of the local
population, particularly pregnant women, new figures show. Nine out of ten
pregnant women in the town and in some rural areas nearby are suffering
from various diseases due to their immunity system being weak. "Only 10
out of every 100 pregnant women [in Semipalatinsk] are healthy," Rashida
Galimulina, the head of the Semipalatinsk perinatal centre, told IRIN from
Semipalatinsk.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36253&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN

PAKISTAN: New study shows half the population lacks safe water

Only 56 percent of the total population of Pakistan has access to safe
drinking water, according to a study, entitled "Water, A Vital Source of
Life", published by the United Nations System in Pakistan, and launched in
the capital, Islamabad, on Thursday. "This is a significant contribution
towards mass awareness programmes in the area of water management. The
articles regarding provincial water situations give deep insight into the
local issues," Maj (retd) Tahir Iqbal, the environment minister, said at
the launch.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36249&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: People return to relief camps as monsoon hits Sindh again

Overnight rains in rural Sindh have forced tens of people back into the
relief camps set up after heavy rains caused huge floods last month,
leaving over a million people stranded or homeless in the southern
Pakistani province. "If the rain is very severe, it will cause problems
for the Sindh government. We will have to reorganise ourselves, and our
strategy will have to be revised," Salahuddin Haider, the provincial
government's information adviser, told IRIN from Karachi.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36178&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: Grounded oil tanker still presents environmental threat

A tanker which ran aground just off the coast of the southern port city of
Karachi is now being held together with inflatable booms to ensure that
the remainder of its cargo of crude oil can be siphoned off by local crews
and international consultants so as to avert further damage to the marine
environment. "The salvage operation might take a few more days. The ship
has broken into two distinct parts and we estimate there is still a
reasonably large quantity of oil left on board. We're trying to take that
out," Brig Iftikhar Arshad, the general manager of the Karachi Port Trust,
told IRIN from Karachi.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36179&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: Averting Sindh-Punjab water wars

President Pervez Musharraf on Monday ordered the formation of special
committees to be charged with resolving provincial water problems and that
of the controversial Kalabagh Dam - an issue which has formed the basis of
much acrimony between the southern province of Sindh and the eastern
Punjab Province. "Every drop of water that the River Indus carries through
to Sindh passes through the point where the Kalabagh Dam is slated to be
built. If this dam is eventually built, there won't be any water left for
Sindh," Qamar-uz-Zaman Shah, the president of the Sindh Chamber of
Agriculture, told IRIN from the southern port city of Karachi.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36200&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: Focus on gender differences in education

Thirteen-year-old Asma once dreamt of going to medical school. "I wanted
to become a doctor, so I could help my mother who suffers from severe
headaches," she said, brandishing a mop ready to sweep the floor of the
foyer in an up-market block of flats in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
"But I think that's not possible now, because my parents are poor." Asma
does go to primary school, however, but her parents, both of whom are
employed as domestic helps in different households, only manage to send
her to a government school near their little community of domestic
servants and municipality sweepers.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36188&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: "Waiting area" refugees subjected to negative policies, says MSF

Afghan refugees housed in "waiting area" camps set up just inside
Pakistani territory along the border with Afghanistan for people who had
fled to escape the US-led coalition's campaign against the Taliban in
2001, were subjected to a deliberate policy on the part of the Pakistani
and Afghan authorities to limit assistance, a Medecins Sans Frontieres
(MSF) official said on Wednesday. "The decision of the Pakistani
authorities to seal the border to new arrivals of refugees on 21 February
2002 left around 25,000 people stranded in Kili Faizo, just inside
Pakistan, without national or international assistance.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36233&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: More aid needed as flood-affected region tries to recover

Sustainable relief aid in the flood-stricken southern province of Sindh is
still urgently needed after more rains at the start of the week forced
people to leave their homes again to seek the relative safety of relief
camps, according to an aid agency official. "They have been receiving more
rain, so while it had subsided a little there is still lots of
displacement. People are still living in camps, although some in Sindh
have been able to go home. However, about a million people have lost their
livelihoods, so there needs to be a solid rehabilitation initiative," a
World Vision Programme (WVP) official, Joel Hirst, told IRIN in the
Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36232&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: Poverty worsens as investment stagnates - ADB report

There has been no visible reduction in poverty levels, while the rate of
investment in Pakistan has also shown no acceleration, according to a new
Asian Development Bank (ADB) quarterly report. "In the current fiscal
year, the Pakistan government is aiming at a growth figure of 5.3 percent,
up from the 5.1 percent rate of growth announced for the last financial
year," Marshuk Ali Shah, the ADB country director for Pakistan, told IRIN
in the capital, Islamabad, adding that a growth target of 6 percent to 7
percent needed to be achieved if reducing poverty was a serious aim.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36229&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: Refugee iris identification centre to close

The Iris Verification Centre (IVC) in Chaman, southwestern Pakistan, is to
be closed due to the seasonal decline in the number of returning Afghan
refugees, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), announced on Thursday. The area will now be served by a mobile
unit.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36265&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


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