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
27 November - 3 December 2004


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Interview with UN drug agency on opium proliferation
AFGHANISTAN: Struggle to raise HIV awareness as first official
   AIDS-related deaths reported
AFGHANISTAN: People living with disabilities call for integration
CENTRAL ASIA: Regional meeting to raise disaster awareness
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KAZAKHSTAN: Interview on Almaty earthquake preparedness
KAZAKHSTAN: Migration conference opens in Almaty
KAZAKHSTAN: Interview with UN Resident Coordinator, Yuriko Shoji
KYRGYZSTAN: Rural people tackle diseases of poverty
KYRGYZSTAN: Marking World AIDS Day
KYRGYZSTAN: Rights activists welcome reappearance of missing colleague
PAKISTAN: Pakistan hosts first ever conference on volunteering
PAKISTAN: First Asia-Pacific Conference on HIV/AIDS and women
PAKISTAN: Dense fog disrupts life in upper Punjab
PAKISTAN: Youth learning skills to prevent HIV/AIDS
PAKISTAN: Life term for blasphemous minority sect member
TAJIKISTAN: Country tops Central Asia infant mortality rate
UZBEKISTAN: Protesters picket US Embassy to call for election boycott
UZBEKISTAN: Thousands of prisoners to be released under amnesty


AFGHANISTAN: Interview with UN drug agency on opium proliferation

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has increased by more than 60
percent and is set to reach an unprecedented 131,000 hectares in 2005,
according to a new survey carried out by the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The agency's annual survey found that poppy
cultivation has spread to all 32 provinces of the country. Doris
Buddenberg, the head of UNODC in Afghanistan, told IRIN that a lack of
alternative livelihoods in rural areas was continuing to drive the
cultivation of poppy and production of opium.




AFGHANISTAN: Struggle to raise HIV awareness as first official
AIDS-related deaths reported

Anisa Wahab, a well-known Afghan actress, presented a drama on the lack of
HIV/AIDS awareness in Afghan families, as officials, aid workers and UN
agency representatives gathered in the capital Kabul, to mark World AIDS
Day on Wednesday. "I have no place in society, everyone curses me,
everyone is scared of me," Wahab cried out as she assumed the character of
an HIV-positive Afghan returnee.




AFGHANISTAN: People living with disabilities call for integration

The disabled in Afghanistan have contributions to make but they need more
support to help them integrate into society. This was the call from
disabled groups on Thursday as the country observed the International Day
of Disabled Persons. According to the Afghan Ministry of Martyrs and
Disabled the country has more than 1 million people living with various
levels of disability - the result of decades of devastating conflict and
the lack of a health infrastructure.




CENTRAL ASIA: Regional meeting to raise disaster awareness

A regional conference on disaster preparedness in Central Asia is under
way in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, aimed at finding ways to mitigate the
risks and ensuring regional cooperation. "The aim of the meeting is to
ensure political commitment from the Central Asian states on priority
tasks with regard to reducing natural disaster risks in the region,"
Sirojiddin Mulloev, an emergency ministry spokesman, told IRIN from
Dushanbe, on Wednesday.




CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

This week in Central Asia the Uzbek media reported that over 30,000
people, of whom 9,900 were women, were living with HIV/AIDS in Uzbekistan
as World AIDS Day was commemorated on Wednesday. In Tajikistan, the number
of HIV-positive people may be around 4,000, the Tajik Asia-Plus news
agency reported on Thursday, citing William Paton, UN resident coordinator
in the country.




KAZAKHSTAN: Interview on Almaty earthquake preparedness

The Kazakh commercial capital Almaty, which was last destroyed by
earthquakes in 1887 and 1911, is likely to suffer a major quake in the
next 10 to 15 years, experts say. In an interview with IRIN, the deputy
Director of Seismology at the National Academy of Sciences, Askar Ospanov,
and Baurzhan Iskakov, the chief of local emergency services, outlined the
dangers. But with sound preparation, loss of life and damage to buildings
and infrastructure could be kept to a minimum, they say.




KAZAKHSTAN: Migration conference opens in Almaty

A comprehensive conference on migration opened in the Kazakh commercial
capital, Almaty, on Tuesday, revealing a negative migration balance for
Central Asia's largest state. "While most events have focused only on
migration to and from Kazakhstan, this conference will show more aspects
of migration," Elvira Pak, head of the office for the Fredrich-Ebert
Stiftung (FES) Foundation in Almaty, which organized the event, told IRIN.




KAZAKHSTAN: Interview with UN Resident Coordinator, Yuriko Shoji

Kazakhstan has made significant progress since gaining independence
following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In an interview with
IRIN in the former Kazakh capital of Almaty, newly appointed UN Resident
Coordinator to the country, Yuriko Shoji, shared her insight into some of
the many challenges facing Central Asia's largest state, including poverty
alleviation, democratic governance and the fight against HIV/AIDS.




KYRGYZSTAN: Rural people tackle diseases of poverty

An unreliable state healthcare system led rural people in the central
Kyrgyz province of Naryn three years ago to start local committees to
tackle health problems. The practice, which began in Jumgal district, has
now been replicated in almost every village in the province.  The "Jumgal"
model has evolved into a system enabling rural communities to act
independently to improve their health. Communities decide on their health
priorities and form Local Healthcare Committees (LHC) to coordinate
action.




KYRGYZSTAN: Marking World AIDS Day

United Nations agencies marked World AIDS Day on Wednesday by recognising
the work of HIV/AIDS organisations in Kyrgyzstan through special awards.
On the same day, the US Embassy in Bishkek donated medical equipment to
the Kyrgyz Ministry of Health to help its work with people living with
HIV/AIDS. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
the official number of HIV cases has risen in the last four years 12 times
faster than in the period 1987 to 2000.




KYRGYZSTAN: Rights activists welcome reappearance of missing colleague

Civic activists in Kyrgyzstan are upbeat about the return of Tursunbek
Akunov, a prominent human rights activist who went missing earlier this
month, but are urging the authorities to thoroughly investigate the case.
"We are very happy that our colleague is alive but his health still
worries us," Edil Baysalov, head of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil
Society, a local NGO, told IRIN from the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.




PAKISTAN: Pakistan hosts first ever conference on volunteering

To mark the International Volunteer Day (IVD) on 5 December, Pakistan is
hosting the first ever international conference on volunteering. The theme
of the three-day meeting is the 'Role of volunteers in helping to achieve
the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)'. "This [conference] is an
effort to recognise and streamline all the volunteer activities in our
country," Ghani Marwat, director for the volunteers department at
Pakistan's National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), told IRIN.




PAKISTAN: First Asia-Pacific Conference on HIV/AIDS and women

Pakistan began hosting a three-day conference on Monday addressing the
impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls in the Asia Pacific region. The
National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), the health ministry and Amal Human
Development Network (AHDN) - an NGO working on HIV/AIDS prevention and
awareness - have jointly organised the event with other development
partners including UN agencies.




PAKISTAN: Dense fog disrupts life in upper Punjab

Pakistan's National Meteorological Office predicted dense, foggy weather
to continue for another 48 hours in the upper Punjab region on Monday,
causing further disruption to road, rail and air mobility. At least 15
people have been reported killed in different parts of Punjab province
over the past week since the fog set in, while dozens have been injured in
traffic accidents due to poor visibility.




PAKISTAN: Youth learning skills to prevent HIV/AIDS

On the sidelines of the first Asia/Pacific HIV/AIDS conference in the
Pakistani capital Islamabad, where health experts and activists are
sharing their best practices to deal with the world pandemic, another
parallel youth-based activity to mark World AIDS Day is going on, hardly
10 minutes away from the main conference hall. Nearly 70 national and
international young delegates have gathered there to share their
HIV/AIDS-related concerns - the problems and the solutions.




PAKISTAN: Life term for blasphemous minority sect member

A court in Pakistan on Tuesday handed down a life sentence and a fine of
10,000 rupees (US $167 dollars) to a man from the minority Ahmediya
community for remarks deemed blasphemous to Islam. The man, Iqbal Ahmad,
can appeal against the sentence to the high court within 30 days. Ahmad
was arrested in March on a charge of blasphemy in the village of
Samundari, some 250 km south of the capital, Islamabad, following a
complaint by a village prayer leader, Zulfiqar.




TAJIKISTAN: Country tops Central Asia infant mortality rate

Tajikistan has the highest rate of under five child mortality among the
Central Asian states, with 78 deaths per 1000 live births, according to a
survey by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "Nutrition-related
issues and several prenatal diseases [contracted] during delivery are
contributing to the high level of infant mortality," Sabir Kurbanov,
UNICEF's health and nutrition adviser, told IRIN.




UZBEKISTAN: Protesters picket US Embassy to call for election boycott

Rights and opposition groups gathered outside the US Embassy in the
capital, Tashkent, on Wednesday, calling on the US government to support
freedom of speech and democracy in this Central Asian state. The
protesters say the Uzbek government has blocked the registration of
genuine opposition candidates in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.




UZBEKISTAN: Thousands of prisoners to be released under amnesty

Uzbekistan's president, Islam Karimov, signed a decree on Thursday
pardoning more than 5,000 prisoners, just a few days ahead of the 12th
anniversary of Uzbek Constitution Day on 8 December. But rights groups say
it does little for the many political and religious prisoners who have
been jailed in recent years. Under the amnesty, 5,040 prisoners will be
released and 8,000-9,000 prisoners will have their sentences reduced,
Karimov said.




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