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-CAS Weekly Round-up 156
20 - 26 March 2004


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: New school year opens on optimistic note
AFGHANISTAN: Government confirms troop deployment following deadly 
  violence in Herat
AFGHANISTAN: At Berlin, Kabul to seek longer-term commitment from doors
AFGHANISTAN: UNICEF promotes health, education through religious leaders 
  CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
IRAN: Government moves to tighten Afghan border against drugs
IRAN: Special on Bam three months on
KAZAKHSTAN: Media watchdogs pessimistic about new press law
KYRGYZSTAN: Controversial language law still debated
KYRGYZSTAN: Half a million labour migrants abroad
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on former convicts propagating TB
PAKISTAN: ADB update says economy looking good
PAKISTAN: Special report on tuberculosis
PAKISTAN: Row over fate of women's rights bill
TURKMENISTAN: RSF slams country's press freedom record
UZBEKISTAN: Farmers say their rights being violated


AFGHANISTAN: New school year opens on optimistic note

Sunday was a day of reflection and optimism as Afghans celebrated the
start of a new academic year, the third since the downfall of the hardline
Taliban regime in December 2001. An estimated 5.5 million students are
expected to return to the classroom this year. "Now that there is hope for
a brighter future and less possibility of further conflicts, this is the
right time and not too late to go back to school," a 30-year-old housewife
said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40170&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Government confirms troop deployment following deadly
violence in Heart

The Afghan government has deployed a substantial number of troops to the
troubled western province of Herat following Sunday's violence that
claimed the life of Aviation and Tourism Minister Mirwais Sadiq, among
others. "The government has sent 1,500 soldiers from the Afghan National
Army to prevent further violence in Herat, boost security and underscore
Kabul's authority."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40195&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN 


AFGHANISTAN: At Berlin, Kabul to seek longer-term commitment from doors

Two years after the Tokyo conference, Afghanistan is preparing to
participate in a two-day international donor meeting in Berlin next week.
The Afghan government will ask donor nations to make a longer-term
commitment by appealing for upwards of US $30 billion over the next 10
years, enabling the country to move into a sustainable development phase.
"We have prepared a document that summarises a strategy and vision for
development in the next seven to 10 years."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40225&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: UNICEF promotes health, education through religious leaders

Sitting around low tables, Haji Shamsokhan, a 55-year-old religious
leader, was deep in discussion with his peers in the eastern city of
Jalalabad on Wednesday. "Let's take this seriously. It's our
responsibility to raise awareness on women's health and girls' education,"
the white bearded Shamsokhan emphasised, while addressing a gathering of
some 60 religious leaders.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40250&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN 


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

A young Tajik boy was killed by a landmine on the border between
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the AFP reported on Thursday. According to the
Tajik interior ministry, Rashid Umarov, 10, and his friends were herding
cows when they walked unwittingly into a mine field, officials said,
adding that the boy died of his injuries on the spot. The recent incident
brings to 62, the number of civilians killed by mines since Tashkent mined
the border in 2001 in an attempt to stave off incursions by the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40263&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA 


IRAN: Government moves to tighten Afghan border against drugs

Tehran has announced the launch of 10 new military checkpoints along the
Afghan-Iranian border in Afghanistan's western Herat province as part of
its anti-drug trafficking drive. State-run radio reported that the
governor-general of Iran's northeastern Khorasan province, near the
border. The move is part of a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) bilateral initiative called Strengthening Afghanistan Iran Drug
Control Border Cooperation (SAID) that aims to establish 25 checkpoints
along the border in Afghan provinces.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40177&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN 


IRAN: Special on Bam three months on

Three months ago, an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale and
lasting 20 seconds, ripped through the fertile desert oasis city of Bam,
killing about 43,200 people and leaving thousands homeless. Over 40
international relief teams streamed to Bam, the UN launched a flash appeal
and millions of dollars worth of donations poured in from across the
world. Now, three months on, the emergency phase is over and the long-term
rehabilitation is in full swing.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40237&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN 


KAZAKHSTAN: Media watchdogs pessimistic about new press law

Media and rights groups are painting a gloomy picture of the possible
consequences of a new Kazakh press law, describing it as a step backward
for freedom of expression in the Central Asian state. "I think this law
will seriously complicate the situation of freedom of speech in
Kazakhstan."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40249&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN 


KYRGYZSTAN: Controversial language law still debated

The new law on state language continues to be debated in Kyrgyzstan, the
only Central Asian state with Russian as an "official" language. The new
law on state language continues to be debated in Kyrgyzstan, the only
Central Asian state with Russian as an "official" language. "I am
concerned about it, because it will force older Russian speaking state
employees to look for non-governmental job opportunities."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40202&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: Half a million labour migrants abroad

The number of labour migrants from Kyrgyzstan travelling abroad in search
of work has reached half a million, making the mountainous country the
second after Tajikistan in terms of labour migration sources in Central
Asia. According to the Kyrgyz migration service department, of an
estimated half a million Kyrgyz citizens living and working abroad, some
300,000 were in Russia, while in Kazakhstan that figure stood at 50,000
with seasonal increases up to 120,000.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40232&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN 


KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on former convicts propagating TB

Teshebai, a skinny man of 40, is a petty trader on one of the streets of
the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh. His tiny stand - full of chewing gums,
cigarettes and a bag with sunflower seeds, along with other small items -
is surrounded by many traces of fresh and thick spittle. According to Luch
Solomona (Rays of Solomon), a local NGO in Osh, there are hundreds if not
thousands of people like Teshebai whose health was undermined in state
penal institutions and who are now are on the streets in search of their
daily bread.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40213&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN 


PAKISTAN: ADB update says economy looking good

Boosted by macro-economic stability, Pakistan's formerly sluggish economy
has shown signs of a healthy upturn with earlier growth-rate projections
of 5.3 percent being replaced by predictions that it would reach 5.5
percent, or even beyond, according to the Asian Development Bank's
Pakistan Economic Update 2004.The update proffers an analysis of
macro-economic developments and trends in the South Asian nation for the
first half of the fiscal year.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40182&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN 


PAKISTAN: Special report on tuberculosis

Tariq Mahmood, 36, a wan, emaciated man with thick spectacles, waited
patiently in the office of an assistant health education officer in the TB
Centre in Rawalpindi, the historic garrison city near the Pakistani
capital, Islamabad. "About 250,000 cases of TB are detected annually in
Pakistan, and approximately 60,000 people die from it every year across
the country."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40214&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN 


PAKISTAN: Row over fate of women's rights bill

An opposition parliamentarian on Thursday accused the Pakistani government
of blocking a women-specific bill, moved in the country's national
assembly on Tuesday, which focuses on the elimination of gender
discrimination as well as calling for a repeal of the controversial Hudood
Ordinances. "It met with total opposition from the government. The advisor
for women's development, Nelofar Bakhtyar, stood up and said 'I oppose
it'. She clearly opposed it twice, which means that she won't let it get
to the committee stage."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40247&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN 


TURKMENISTAN: RSF slams country's press freedom record

Turkmenistan, the most reclusive Central Asian state, has one of the worst
records in the world for freedom of expression. "There is no press
freedom. There is no independent press and all newspapers and TVs, etc.
are used for propaganda purposes It is totally under state control. So,
even [when] comparing [it] to all the world's countries it is among the
worst."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40257&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN 


UZBEKISTAN: Farmers say their rights being violated

Tamara Ismailova is a farmer in the Zarbdor district of the central Uzbek
province of Jizzak. It has been 10 years since she started her business,
but things haven't been easy for her and her eight-member family in this
largely agrarian Central Asian state. Farmers couldn't operate
independently and were exposed to various abuses and pressure from local
authorities.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40197&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN 


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 2004


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