Weekly Round-Up - IRINCAS-169: 25-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 169
19 - 25 June 2004
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Rural areas face lack of arable land
AFGHANISTAN: NGOs reiterate security concerns to NATO
AFGHANISTAN: Challenges of rapid urban development
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KAZAKHSTAN: New civic coalition to ensure greater transparency in oil
sector
KYRGYZSTAN: Tajik refugees celebrate naturalisation
KYRGYZSTAN: Health situation remains grim in prisons
KYRGYZSTAN: Football clubs raise awareness of HIV and drug abuse
PAKISTAN: Wreckage of dhow no real cause for concern
TAJIKISTAN: Typhoid cases on decline in the capital
TAJIKISTAN: Power cut problem being resolved in north
TURKMENISTAN: Country rapped for lack of online press freedom
UZBEKISTAN: Tashkent moves to de-mine borders with Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan
AFGHANISTAN: Rural areas face lack of arable land
Suffering from years of severe drought, Afghanistan continues to lose
large tracts of arable land - a particularly serious issue for rural
communities, where upwards of 80 percent of the country's 28 million
population lives. "The database available on various natural resources in
Afghanistan is very limited, but Afghanistan is a desert area so
desertification is a serious issue in the country."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41812&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: NGOs reiterate security concerns to NATO
For the second time in just over a year a group of 54 NGOs has reiterated
its call for NATO to refocus its attention on the security needs of the
Afghan people and international aid workers. "For more than a year NGOs
have been calling for NATO to address the real security threat on the
ground. Now the situation appears to be deteriorating and it is making it
extremely difficult for the international community to operate in
Afghanistan."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41826&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Challenges of rapid urban development
Although largely a rural nation, Afghanistan's urban development is now
proceeding faster than ever with reconstruction and rehabilitation well
under way. It is estimated that by the year 2045 the country's urban
population will have surpassed that living in rural areas, which currently
accounts for 80 percent of the total. "The urban development process is
moving ahead so rapidly that the [capital] city [of Kabul] is expanding,
but not according to the master plan of the government."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41853&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
Khalmurat Gylychdurdyev, interviewed by the US-supported Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that frequently broadcasts programmes
critical of Turkmenistan's government, was reportedly detained by officers
of the Turkmen Ministry of National Security (MNS) on Wednesday, Amnesty
International (AI) said in a statement one day later. The 64-year-old was
at risk of torture and ill-treatment, the watchdog group warned.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41869&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
KAZAKHSTAN: New civic coalition to ensure greater transparency in oil
sector
A newly established group of NGOs to promote civic control over
Kazakhstan's burgeoning oil industry aimed at more transparency of the
revenues the Kazakh government receives and how they are spent -
information closed even to members of parliament. "Many NGOs that joined
the Coalition [of NGOs] have long been talking about the need to ensure
greater transparency about the revenues which the state receives from oil
extraction."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41799&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Tajik refugees celebrate naturalisation
There was a sense of optimism in the air in a public park on Sunday as
Tajiks refugees in the town of Ivanovka, near the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek,
marked World Refugee Day. The 5,000 Tajiks of Kyrgyz descent - who do not
want to return to the country where their ancestors moved decades ago -
are expected to be granted full local citizenship later this year. Kyrgyz
Prime Minister Nikolay Tanayev signed instructions in May to implement
simplified naturalisation procedures.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41787&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Health situation remains grim in prisons
Health conditions in Kyrgyzstan's burgeoning prison system remain a source
of concern for health officials in the mountainous Central Asian state. As
of 1 January 2004, there were 17,000 prisoners in the country - 350 per
100,000 people. Besides HIV/AIDS, many prisoners in Kyrgyzstan are
infected with TB, hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41830&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Football clubs raise awareness of HIV and drug abuse
The Kyrgyz Football Federation, in conjunction with the UN children's
agency UNICEF, has embarked on a unique campaign to raise awareness of
HIV/AIDS and drug abuse through the country's extensive football coaching
network. "There's so much ignorance out there about the dangers of AIDS
and drugs, and we estimate that our project will have an impact on about
100,000 young people across Kyrgyzstan."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41850&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
PAKISTAN: Wreckage of dhow no real cause for concern
The wreckage of a dhow, a coasting vessel of Arabia, East Africa, and the
Indian Ocean, which sank just off the coast off the southern port city of
Karachi early in the week, and the resultant oil spill, which forced the
closure of a popular commercial beach for three days by local authorities,
was no real cause for concern, according to an environmentalist.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41870&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Typhoid cases on decline in the capital
The number of reported typhoid cases is decreasing in the Tajik capital,
Dushanbe, mainly due to community awareness raising efforts, health
ministry officials say. The most recent typhoid outbreak in Dushanbe
occurred last October when more than 440 people were infected after a
major piped water source in one of the city's districts became
contaminated. This year "the situation [with regard to typhoid in
Dushanbe] is stable and is actually improving."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41811&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Power cut problem being resolved in north
Power cuts in Tajikistan's northern Soghd province may soon to be resolved
with the construction of an electricity link across the border in
neighbouring Kyrgyzstan. Under an agreement signed between the two
governments, the move will mitigate power shortages in the industrial
region, problematic during winter months when uninterrupted service is
currently considered to be a luxury.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41831&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
TURKMENISTAN: Country rapped for lack of online press freedom
Turkmenistan, the most reclusive Central Asian state, ranks as one of the
most repressive countries in the world in terms of online press freedom,
restricting access to the Internet and blocking access to a very wide
range of websites. "[In Turkmenistan] this is more a problem of accessing
the Internet than a problem of censorship. The government doesn't allow
the people to have [any] access to the Internet. That is the worst step to
control the sources of information."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41851&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: Tashkent moves to de-mine borders with Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan will move to clear its borders with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan
of mines, a step viewed by both Tajik and Kyrgyz officials as a welcome
initiative to promote good-neighbourly and mutually beneficial relations
in the region. "The Uzbek government has decided to start the process of
removing landmines from its Tajik and Kyrgyz borders."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41848&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
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