U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
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Integrated Regional Information Network for Central Asia

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Central Asia
IRIN-CAS Weekly Round-Up 156
25 September - 1 October 2004


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: New report alerts donors to reality of the economy
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: IOM establishes over 1,600 polling stations for
   Afghan vote
AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Afghan voter preparation proceeding well
AFGHANISTAN: New report highlights situation of women and children
AFGHANISTAN: Voters concerned about intimidation - survey
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KYRGYZSTAN: ADB to reduce vulnerability of poor to natural disasters
KYRGYZSTAN: Super rats posing growing health problem
KYRGYZSTAN: Hepatitis on the rise in south, health officials say
PAKISTAN: IOM busy with Afghan voter education campaign
TAJIKISTAN: Nationwide measles campaign begins
TAJIKISTAN: New districts to be demined
TURKMENISTAN: Prison conditions remain bleak
UZBEKISTAN: Tashkent facing drug onslaught as regional heroin production
   booms


AFGHANISTAN: New report alerts donors to reality of the economy

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world with a continuing
vicious cycle of insecurity, an informal economy and drug trafficking,
according to a World Bank report released last Friday. The first economic
report on Afghanistan by the World Bank in a quarter of a century
indicates that up to 90 percent of the country lives in an informal
economy, denying the government much needed taxes and other revenue needed
for development.




AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: IOM establishes over 1,600 polling stations for
Afghan vote

More than 1,600 polling stations have been set up by the International
Organisation for Migration (IOM) at more than 600 locations in Pakistan to
conduct the Afghan Out of Country Registration and Voting (OCRV) exercise.
"Due to the accelerated time frame under which the out of country
elections had to be organised, there are certain inherent operational
limitations, the main one being that not all regions of Pakistan or Iran
will have voting facilities."




AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Afghan voter preparation proceeding well

With just 10 days to go to polling, preparations to give hundreds of
thousands of refugees living in Iran the chance to vote in Afghanistan's
presidential elections next month are proceeding well. The IOM is
overseeing what looks set to become the largest out of country voting for
refugees every held. "Most of the eligible voters here, most Afghan
refugees here, will have the opportunity to cast a ballot."




AFGHANISTAN: New report highlights situation of women and children

Prospects for Afghan children have improved in recent years, though much
work remains to be done to compensate for decades of conflict,
under-investment and international isolation, according to a joint
UN-government report just published. The report - the first comprehensive
study since 1996 to present a widespread insight into and analysis of the
condition of Afghanistan's women and children - was released on Tuesday.




AFGHANISTAN: Voters concerned about intimidation - survey

Afghans have voiced concern over possible intimidation by local commanders
during next month's presidential elections, calling disarmament the single
most important issue in improving security. Written by the Kabul-based
Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC), the survey,
entitled "Take the Guns Away: Afghan Voices on Security and Elections",
highlights the views, collected in June and July 2004, of 763 Afghans from
six major Afghan provinces.




CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

A mission from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has
completed inspecting preparations for parliamentary and local elections in
Uzbekistan scheduled for December, the local media reported on Tuesday.
Only pro-government parties have been registered to run, while opposition
parties have been barred from the polls.




KYRGYZSTAN: ADB to reduce vulnerability of poor to natural disasters

A new project by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) aims to reduce the
vulnerability of the poor in Kyrgyzstan to natural disasters and increase
their preparedness for emergencies, according to an ADB official. The US
$1 million programme, funded by the Japanese government, will start in
January 2005. "The objective of this grant is to improve the capacity of
national and local authorities in Kyrgyzstan to reduce the vulnerability
of the country's poor to frequently occurring natural disasters."




KYRGYZSTAN: Super rats posing growing health problem

Rats menace is becoming increasingly common in urban areas where rodent
infestation is becoming a major health issue. But these are no ordinary
rats. The pests, descendants of albino rats used in laboratories and wild
rats, have spread throughout the country, including Bishkek and the shores
of Lake Issyk-Kul. "I was asleep in a courtyard when I felt the teeth of
this giant rat on my leg. Fortunately I woke up. It was very horrible and
disgusting."




KYRGYZSTAN: Hepatitis on the rise in south, health officials say

Epidemiological services are seeing a steep rise in the number of acute
viral hepatitis cases in southern Kyrgyzstan. In Osh alone, the country's
second largest city, about 100 people have been hospitalised with
hepatitis over the past month. Officials at the Osh regional
epidemiological control centre say that this year's hepatitis incidence
rate exceeds last year's level by 50 per cent. The number of infected
people is increasing in rural areas.




PAKISTAN: IOM busy with Afghan voter education campaign

As the time approaches for Afghans to vote on 9 October to chose their
first-ever elected president, the voter education campaign being run by
the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for Afghan refugees in
Pakistan is in full swing. "Our voter educational strategy includes
community meetings, radio and TV broadcasts and the distribution of voter
educational material."




TAJIKISTAN: Nationwide measles campaign begins

A major effort to immunise some 3 million people against measles began in
Tajikistan on Monday, the largest nationwide immunisation campaign since
the former Soviet republic gained independence in 1991. "Almost 3 million
people, about half the country's population, will be covered." The US $2.6
million government initiative is being administered through schools,
health centres and mobile teams throughout the impoverished nation.




TAJIKISTAN: New districts to be demined

Tajik demining specialists are planning to clear minefields in two
districts of the eastern Badakhshon region, a move set to benefit some
12,000 rural residents in the area. "We are planning to start demining
work in six minefields in Vanj and Darvoz districts of Badakhshon next
year after the cold weather has passed, probably in March or April of
2005." A general assessment done by TMAC revealed that there are many
dangerous sites in the area, which have an impact on the local population.




TURKMENISTAN: Prison conditions remain bleak

Batyr Mukhamedov still vividly recalls his incarceration in Shagal prison
in eastern Turkmenistan, where torture, routine beatings, food
deprivation, overcrowding and disease have yet to receive the
international concern they deserve. "I knew two people, both physically
fit, who were tortured to death. What they did to these men behind the
prison's walls cannot be described."




UZBEKISTAN: Tashkent facing drug onslaught as regional heroin production
booms

Uzbek law enforcement bodies on Tuesday burned 566 kg of illegal
narcotics, including 381 kg of heroin, as part of their fight against
illicit drug trafficking. Uzbekistan is becoming one of the main drug
transit routes following the significant increase in Afghan opium output
last year. Drug dealers are increasingly trying to use Uzbekistan to shift
Afghan-made drugs to Russia and further afield to Europe. This is directly
connected to the big opium harvest in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2003."




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