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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e-mail: irin@irin.org.pk


Central Asia
IRIN-CAS Weekly Round-up 158
3 - 9 April 2004


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Interview with UNICEF deputy executive director
AFGHANISTAN: Local radio makes impact in conservative Kandahar CENTRAL 
  ASIA: OSCE Chairman begins regional tour 
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
PAKISTAN: Pregnant teenager faces death decree by local tribe
KYRGYZSTAN: Teenage abortions on the rise
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on living with living HIV/AIDS
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on rural health promotion in Naryn
TAJIKISTAN: Country escapes quake damage
TURKMENISTAN: IHF calls for greater international pressure
UZBEKISTAN: Government regrets EBRD decision to curb loans


AFGHANISTAN: Interview with UNICEF deputy executive director

More than two years after the fall of the Taliban, enrolment levels in the
country's schools are higher than ever before. In an interview with IRIN,
UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director Karin Sham Poo said that Afghanistan
could well meet many of UNICEF's millennium goals by 2005, including
gender parity at primary school level.  Sham Poo said despite major
achievements, maternal mortality and child mortality continued to be a
serious concern for the UN's children agency.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40418&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Local radio makes impact in conservative Kandahar

Azad Afghan Radio, a newly established local radio station, broadcasts in
a radius of 100 km - covering Kandahar city and five surrounding
districts. Reaching some 150,000 listeners, it has five hours of evening
programming consisting of news, education, sports and local advocacy, with
a strong emphasis on voicing people's complaints to local authorities and
getting response from concerned state organs.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40481&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN 


CENTRAL ASIA: OSCE Chairman begins regional tour

The Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), Bulgaria's Foreign Minister, Solomon Passy, on Monday began
a regional tour of the five Central Asian states and Afghanistan "to
establish contacts with the leadership and civil society," OSCE spokesman
Keith Jinks told IRIN from the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40430&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA 


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) and Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy addressed an
international conference on education organised by the OSCE in the Uzbek
capital, Tashkent, on Monday, on the first step of his week-long tour of
the Central Asian region. Education is one of the priorities for the
activities of the organization this year

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40497&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA 


PAKISTAN: Pregnant teenager faces death decree by local tribe

A pregnant 17-year-old from rural Sindh is seeking refuge in the southern
port city of Karachi in an attempt to escape death by "karo-kari", or
honour killing, says a member of the provincial opposition who is
campaigning to save her. "I've been trying to protect her. First, I've
tried to secure her safety. Then, yesterday, I took this issue to the
assembly and asked the government why they are not making a law against
this custom of honour killings."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40461&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN 


KYRGYZSTAN: Teenage abortions on the rise

Teenage abortions are on the rise in Kyrgyzstan, with young women from
rural areas being particularly prone to unwanted pregnancies due to a lack
of awareness about the risks of unprotected sex combined with their
traditional upbringing. Although the number of abortions as a whole has
decreased in the country over the past decade from 12.6 to 10.8 per 1,000
women of fertile age, a higher proportion is now performed on teenagers.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40421&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN 


KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on living with living HIV/AIDS

The stigma attached to HIV/AIDS in Kyrgyzstan makes life for sufferers
particularly hard. Society's rejection of them comes on top of poor
treatment of the disease in the Central Asian country, where intravenous
drug users make up the majority of victims. But despite the difficulties
some are trying to take positive steps to help themselves, while at the
same time some outside assistance could be on the way.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40437&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN 


KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on rural health promotion in Naryn

Head eastwards from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek towards China and you will
eventually reach Naryn Oblast - the least populated and the poorest region
in the Central Asian state. Most of the 240,000 people in the province
live in villages scattered in the high mountains, where temperatures can
drop as low as minus 35 C in winter. Such harsh conditions can cause many
health problems, which has made the provision of good health care in this
region a national priority.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40457&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN 


TAJIKISTAN: Country escapes quake damage

No casualties or damage have been reported in Tajikistan after an
earthquake struck the mountainous region early on Tuesday. The quake
measured up to 6.6 on the Richter scale at its peak, but according to the
emergency agency, it reached between 4 and 4.5 on the Richter scale in the
Tajik capital at 2:20 am local time. The epicentre was some 80 km
southeast of the Afghan city of Fayzabad, 105 km northwest of the
Pakistani city of Chitral and 125 km southwest of the Tajik city of
Khorug.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40441&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN 


TURKMENISTAN: IHF calls for greater international pressure

International pressure was vital to improving the human rights situation
in Turkmenistan, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
(IHF) told IRIN on Monday. "The government has embraced virtually none of
the political values to which it has committed itself as a participating
state in the OSCE. As a result, the people have virtually no chance to
exercise their human rights and to develop as individuals, families,
through civil society, and as members of a democracy reflecting
Turkmenistan's own culture and traditions."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40428&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN 


UZBEKISTAN: Government regrets EBRD decision to curb loans

Uzbekistan has regretted a move by the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) to reduce the level of public-sector loans to the
Central Asian country. "It wasn't a justified decision and we regret that
it was made despite efforts made both by the Bank [EBRD] and our
government to reach a mutual understanding on those problems that the EBRD
raised with us," Ilkhom Zakirov, Uzbek foreign ministry spokesman, told
IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40459&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN 


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