Weekly Round-Up - IRINCAS-168: 18-Jun-04
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
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Central Asia
IRIN-CAS Weekly Round-up 168
12 - 18 June 2004
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: UNHCR to help Afghans wishing to leave South
Waziristan
AFGHANISTAN: Millions still in need of food aid as drought continues
AFGHANISTAN: Wave of attacks alarms international forces
KAZAKHSTAN: OSCE promotes the Aarhus Convention on the environment
KYRGYZSTAN: "Business incubators" help to reduce poverty
KYRGYZSTAN: Landslide kills at least three as torrential rain continues
PAKISTAN: UNDP, government of Pakistan sign project for commission on
women
PAKISTAN: The health crisis in Hyderabad
PAKISTAN: Nearly 50 dead in bus crash near capital
PAKISTAN: Controversy over government poverty reduction estimate
PAKISTAN: Politician's murder fits pattern of targeted killings by
militants: analyst
TAJIKISTAN: Emergency training successful, says official
UZBEKISTAN: Plight of ethnic Tajik IDPs in the south neglected, says NGO
activist
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: UNHCR to help Afghans wishing to leave South
Waziristan
Afghan refugees in South Waziristan, the tribal area which is the scene of
a full-scale offensive by the Pakistani army as it attempts to weed out
Islamic militants from near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, are being
offered assistance and the choice to repatriate to their country. They
were given a 72-hour deadline by the Pakistani government as the battle
between government forces and seemingly well-entrenched militants
escalated in the area's remote regions over the past five days.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41655&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Millions still in need of food aid as drought continues
Millions of people continue to suffer food shortages due to ongoing
drought in parts of the south and east of Afghanistan, IRIN learnt on
Tuesday. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) told IRIN on
Tuesday, that food shortages were still an issue of concern in many parts
of the country. "According to our survey, up to four million people in
rural areas of Afghanistan are not able to provide all their food needs."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41676&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Wave of attacks alarms international forces
The Kabul-based International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on
Wednesday that the security situation was not improving as the country
moved towards elections due in September. "The security situation is far
from being stable. It is deteriorating." ISAF's concerns follow several
deadly attacks by insurgent groups around the country, which have seen
dozens of aid workers and civilians killed and injured in the course of
just two weeks.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41708&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
KAZAKHSTAN: OSCE promotes the Aarhus Convention on the environment
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held a
workshop on Monday in the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty, on ways of
implementing the Aarhus Convention in the country, an environmental
agreement linking environmental rights and human rights and acknowledging
obligations to future generations.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41710&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: "Business incubators" help to reduce poverty
Promoting small businesses is one of the most effective ways of reducing
poverty in a poor country like Kyrgyzstan, where government figures
suggest at least 40 percent of the population of five million live below
the poverty line. The country's President Askar Akaev subscribes to this
view and he has been busy pushing "business incubators" as one way of
assisting small business enterprises.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41675&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Landslide kills at least three as torrential rain continues
A landslide caused by continuing torrential rains killed at least three
people in southern Kyrgyzstan earlier this week. "We got information that
a landslide occurred on [Monday] 14 June in [southern] Batken district
after continuing torrential rains and at least three men were buried by
the landslide."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41730&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
PAKISTAN: UNDP, government of Pakistan sign project for commission on
women
A project signed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and
the government of Pakistan on Monday, which aims to strengthen the
organisational capacity of a special government commission on women, has a
"tall target" to meet but the commission's chairperson sees the contract
as having a "great effect" on the work of the agency.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41652&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: The health crisis in Hyderabad
Because of a contaminated water supply in Hyderabad, a historic city in
the southern province of Sindh, about 155 km from the provincial capital,
Karachi, 34 people, mostly children, have died and more than 4,000 others
have been treated for severe gastric illnesses since the crisis broke in
mid-May. "This six month old was brought to us in a severely dehydrated
condition because of diarrhoea."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41648&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Nearly 50 dead in bus crash near capital
A crowded bus collided with a tractor-trailer on a busy bridge on
Wednesday, just 15 kilometers from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and
plunged into a dry river-bed, killing nearly 50 people and injuring
another ten seriously. "The trailer hit the bus from the back and knocked
it off the bridge."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41713&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Controversy over government poverty reduction estimate
A leading economist has questioned the sampling procedures used to
ascertain a 4 percent fall in nationwide poverty as claimed by the
Pakistani government. "The sampling procedure [used for the survey] is
fundamentally flawed." Hussain questioned the Pakistani finance minister's
claim that the "percentage of population below the poverty line has
declined by 4.2 percent compared to the year 2000", calling the claim
"fudged".
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41700&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Politician's murder fits pattern of targeted killings by
militants: analyst
The murder of a popular opposition politician on Thursday in the
violence-wracked southern port city of Karachi by unknown gunmen seems to
fit the pattern of high-profile public figures being targeted by militants
seeking revenge for the continued military offensive launched by Pakistani
forces in the north-west tribal regions of the country, according to an
analyst. Munawar Suhrwardy, the information secretary of the Pakistan
Peoples Party's Sindh chapter, was shot and seriously injured by unknown
assailants in central Karachi on Thursday. He died shortly afterwards in a
local hospital. Police described the murder as a "targeted killing".
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41763&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Emergency training successful, says official
A disaster preparedness exercise was completed in central Tajikistan on
Saturday as part of efforts to train local communities in how to respond
to and cope with disasters. "The joint exercise was conducted by the
Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Red Crescent Society of
Tajikistan on 12 June in [central] Hissar district." The exercise was held
some five km from the district capital and supported by the European
Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) and the Austrian-based NGO,
Hilfswerk.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41656&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: Plight of ethnic Tajik IDPs in the south neglected, says NGO
activist
The leader of a Tajik cultural organisation has told IRIN that the plight
of ethnic Tajik Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in southern Uzbekistan
was being neglected by the international community. "There is a genocide
[taking place] because their rights are being abused. They are treated
like animals; [indeed] even animals are not treated like that. Therefore,
we want this information to be conveyed to President Islam Karimov in
order that the problem be solved."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41695&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
The World Bank said on Wednesday it had approved a US $6.9 million grant
to Kyrgyzstan in support of a disaster hazard mitigation project. The
project aims at minimising the exposure of humans and livestock to nuclear
waste associated with abandoned uranium waste dumps in the southern
Mailuu-Suu area and improve response by national and regional authorities
and local communities to disasters.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41760&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
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