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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Fax: +92-51-2211 450 
e-mail: irin@irin.org.pk


Central Asia
IRIN-CAS Weekly Round-Up 170
26 June - 2 July 2004


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: UN condemns attack on election workers
AFGHANISTAN: Poverty forces children to quit school to work
AFGHANISTAN: NGOs disappointed with NATO deployment plans
AFGHANISTAN: UN making progress in disarmament of child soldiers
AFGHANISTAN: One killed as Jalalabad hit by two bomb blasts
CENTRAL ASIA: Joint fight against HIV/AIDS announced
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
IRAN: Special on Afghan refugees
KAZAKHSTAN: Parliament decriminalises some offences in bid for OSCE
   chairmanship
TAJIKISTAN: Northern areas face possible floods
TURKMENISTAN: EU plans five-year aid package
TURKMENISTAN: Rights groups call for release of conscientious objectors


AFGHANISTAN: UN condemns attack on election workers

The United Nations has expressed outrage over Saturday's fatal attack 
against female staff members of the Secretariat of the Joint Electoral 
Management Body (JEMB) on the outskirts of Jalalabad, the capital of 
Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province. The women were working to 
register female voters in the east for the upcoming national elections.

Full copy of this report


AFGHANISTAN: Poverty forces children to quit school to work

While millions of Afghan children have returned to school following the 
collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001, tens of thousands of 
school-age youngsters, restricted by economic hardship, must still work on 
the streets of the Afghan capital, Kabul, to sustain their families. "I 
would love to go to school, but I can't. There is no one else in my family 
to work except me."

Full copy of this report


AFGHANISTAN: NGOs disappointed with NATO deployment plans

NGOs working in Afghanistan have expressed doubts over the effectiveness 
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) proposed plans for 
expansion in the north and west of the country, arguing that the expansion 
of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) - arranged as civil-military 
partnerships to facilitate the development of a secure environment and 
reconstruction in the country's regions - would not necessarily improve 
the security situation.

Full copy of this report


AFGHANISTAN: UN making progress in disarmament of child soldiers

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is continuing its efforts to 
demobilise upwards of 8,000 child soldiers in Afghanistan, a country 
devastated by over two decades of war. Since the start of its programme in 
February 2004, 2,203 child soldiers between the ages of 14 and 18 years 
have been disarmed and demobilised in eight Afghan provinces.

Full copy of this report


AFGHANISTAN: One killed as Jalalabad hit by two bomb blasts

At least one man was killed and 26 other people, including five children 
and three police officers, were injured in bomb explosions in the eastern 
city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, according to officials from the Afghan 
Interior Ministry. The bombs went off shortly after 1 pm in the city, the 
capital of the eastern Nangarhar province. The explosions caused the death 
of one man and the injuring of 26 others, six of them critically."

Full copy of this report


CENTRAL ASIA: Joint fight against HIV/AIDS announced

Although the Central Asian region, home to some 60 million people, has a 
relatively low HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, a steep growth in infections over 
recent years is becoming a source of concern. In an effort at mitigation, 
four states - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - in 
collaboration with the World Bank, have announced a joint fight against 
HIV/AIDS.

Full copy of this report


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

Five Tajik workers were killed after the walls of a well collapsed around 
them in the Moscow region, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said 
on Wednesday. The AP reported that the accident occurred on Tuesday as the 
men were repairing a well in the village of Lugovaya, just outside the 
Russian capital. According to a preliminary investigation, the workers may 
have succumbed to methane that flooded the well.

Full copy of this report


IRAN: Special on Afghan refugees

Afghans have been streaming into Iran for decades, fleeing war, despotic 
leaders, fanatical regimes and economic misery. In 2000 alone, almost a 
quarter of a million Afghans sought refuge in Iran from the feared Taliban 
rulers. In this special report, IRIN examines the plight and challenges 
facing Afghans living in Iran, which alongside Pakistan, remains one of 
the largest host countries to the Afghan diaspora today.

Full copy of this report


KAZAKHSTAN: Parliament decriminalises some offences in bid for OSCE 
chairmanship

Kazakh law-makers have approved a number of amendments to the country's 
criminal law, decriminalising some offences in a move aimed at 
liberalising the country's penal code. Observers say, however, that there 
remains some way to go in reforming the country's judicial system. Some 
offences have been transferred from the status of criminal acts to that of 
administrative offences. "These are minor and medium level offences for 
which imprisonment up to five years was envisaged."

Full copy of this report


TAJIKISTAN: Northern areas face possible floods

With warmer temperature in Tajikistan's mountains melting the snows, water 
levels in the Zarafshon river in the north have risen, threatening 
thousands of residents in the area. According to the Emergency Ministry, 
the water levels in the Zarafshon river were now some 40 cm higher than at 
the same time in 2003. Some 10,000 people in the area could be affected 
should the river burst its banks and flood nearby populated areas.

Full copy of this report


TURKMENISTAN: EU plans five-year aid package

The European Union (EU), under its Technical Assistance to the 
Commonwealth of Independent States (TACIS) programme, plans to invest up 
to 35 million euros (US $42.5 million) in Turkmenistan over a period of 
five years. The aid package was disclosed during the recent visit by an EU 
delegation to the reclusive former Soviet republic this month as part of 
the current national programme for all countries in the region.

Full copy of this report


TURKMENISTAN: Rights groups call for release of conscientious objectors

Human rights groups have called for the immediate release of two 
conscientious objectors in Turkmenistan who, citing religious grounds, 
have refused to do their military service. "We are calling for their 
prompt and unconditional release and we are urging the authorities to 
introduce a truly civilian alternative to military service for those who 
refuse to serve in the army on religious grounds."

Full copy of this report


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