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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Central Asia
IRIN-CAS Weekly Round-Up 173
17 - 23 July 2004


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Emergency assistance reaches flood victims in the north
AFGHANISTAN: Mine Action for Peace helps reintegrate ex-combatants
AFGHANISTAN: Almost 80 percent of estimated voters registered
CENTRAL ASIA: OSCE needs clear strategy for region - official
CENTRAL ASIA: Washington's cut will restrict UNFPA's work
CENTRAL ASIA: Focus on conflict prevention in Ferghana Valley
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly News Wrap
KYRGYZSTAN: Afghan refugees leave for resettlement in Canada
KYRGYZSTAN: New anti-smoking coalition takes on growing cigarette habit
PAKISTAN: Punjab land dispute has led to deaths and torture - HRW
TAJIKISTAN: Capital's water supply still critical following floods and
   landslides
TAJIKISTAN: Main roads open, capital water crisis eases
TAJIKISTAN: Gay rights face uphill struggle
TAJIKISTAN: Water still polluted in capital after flooding



AFGHANISTAN: Emergency assistance reaches flood victims in the north

Following heavy flooding in the northern provinces of Bamian, Badakhshan
and Samangan, food aid and emergency assistance has been dispatched to
some of the affected areas, the United Nations Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Sunday. Seven doctors are now in the area of
three remote villages - Deqala, Bajga and Ruy Sang in the Kahmard district
of Bamian - recently badly hit by flooding.




AFGHANISTAN: Mine Action for Peace helps reintegrate ex-combatants

Many former combatants are now joining de-mining agencies as part of the
UN-backed disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme.
More than 700 such ex-combatants throughout the country have so far joined
the United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (UNMACA) project. It
is a very interesting programme from an international perspective because
this has never been tried before."




AFGHANISTAN: Almost 80 percent of estimated voters registered

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA),
almost 80 percent of the country's estimated eligible voters have now
registered to vote in the national polls scheduled for October.As of 20
July, voter registration had reached nearly 8 million. Of this total, 59.2
percent are men and 40.8 percent women. A completion date for the
registration process, which began in December 2003, has not yet been set.




CENTRAL ASIA: OSCE needs clear strategy for region - official

The relationship between the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) and Central Asian states lacks balance and consistency, and
needs a clearer strategy, according to a former senior OSCE official.
"There should be a clear strategy, the activities should be streamlined
and long term consistency in the approach of its activities is needed."




CENTRAL ASIA: Washington's cut will restrict UNFPA's work

The Bush administration's decision to withdraw US $34 million in funding
for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will have a negative impact
on the expansion of reproductive health activities in Central Asia. "We
remain constrained in our programme activities due to the funding
reduction." UNFPA experts estimate that the move could lead each year to
two million unwanted pregnancies.




CENTRAL ASIA: Focus on conflict prevention in Ferghana Valley

Men, women and children from Too Moyun village in Osh province, southern
Kyrgyzstan, sweat in the baking summer heat to complete the walls of a
school in time for the new term in the autumn. They are building the
school because the village, along with hundreds of others in the volatile
region, suffers from accidents of history, geography and politics - most
of its meagre resources now lie in the neighbouring state of Uzbekistan,
just across a barbed wire fence, but for the villagers, a world away.




CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly News Wrap

This week in Central Asia, the Asar Party announced that Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev's daughter will run in the upcoming parliamentary
election, in a move the opposition says sets her up for eventual ascension
to the presidency, the AP reported. Asar Party's spokeswoman, Sholpan
Zakikh, said Dariga Nazarbayeva toped the list of 56 candidates that the
party is fielding for the 19 September election.




KYRGYZSTAN: Afghan refugees leave for resettlement in Canada

Afghan refugees have started to leave the Central Asian republic of
Kyrgyzstan for permanent resettlement in Canada under a landmark plan that
could bring an end to a lingering humanitarian problem in the region.
Three or four Afghan families left for Canada last week, following the
first six individuals who arrived there earlier this month. The departures
will continue until a total of 525 refugees.




KYRGYZSTAN: New anti-smoking coalition takes on growing cigarette habit

Earlier this month, ten local Kyrgyz NGOs established a new coalition
dedicated to combating smoking - one of the leading causes of premature
deaths in the country. The coalition hopes to stimulate a national
anti-smoking drive as cigarettes continue to grow in popularity,
particularly among the young, despite the proven health risks associated
with the habit.




PAKISTAN: Punjab land dispute has led to deaths and torture - HRW

Pakistani paramilitary forces have killed at least four Pakistani farmers,
tortured dozens of others and arrested hundreds more in a violent dispute
with tenant farmers over the ownership of fertile land controlled by the
Pakistani army. The four-year-old dispute over the ownership of a large
tract of land between Pakistan's military and farmers whose families have
tilled it for generations has eluded resolution despite the killing of up
to seven farmers in several face-offs.




TAJIKISTAN: Capital's water supply still critical following floods and
landslides

Tajikistan is starting to recover from torrential rains, heavy winds and
landslides that battered much of the country last week. The most serious
humanitarian consequence of the storm is that the capital's water supply
remains heavily polluted, leaving an estimated 400,000 people without
clean water and susceptible to disease. "The largest concern now is the
water supply in Dushanbe because the risk of waterborne diseases is
acute."




TAJIKISTAN: Main roads open, capital water crisis eases

International organisations and the Tajik authorities continue to respond
to the aftermath of last week's floods and landslides. On Tuesday the
clearance from the roads of stranded vehicles - to facilitate the delivery
of clean drinking water to roughly 400,000 people in the Tajik capital,
Dushanbe - was completed. "With the help of the international community,
the government has reacted very well to the current situation."




TAJIKISTAN: Gay rights face uphill struggle

Efforts to advocate the rights of the gay community in Tajikistan,
including HIV/AIDS awareness, face an uphill battle given traditional
Islamic values and a general intolerance towards homosexuality.
"Tajikistan is a conservative Muslim country. Such subjects are not easily
spoken about." Under a project entitled "Legal Support for Sexual
Minorities", the Dushanbe-based group is trying to revise current
legislation in the country.




TAJIKISTAN: Water still polluted in capital after flooding

A week after floods and landslides caused by torrential rains left around
400,000 people without access to safe drinking water in the Tajik capital
Dushanbe, more than half of the city's water supplies are still polluted.
The potential outbreak of waterborne diseases remains very high. Good
access to drinking water is still not possible for 60 percent of the
population [in Dushanbe]."




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