Weekly Round-Up - IRINCAS-174: 30-Jul-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 174
24 - 30 July 2004
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Emergency aid reaches quake victims in Herat, Paktia
AFGHANISTAN: MSF pulls out of country
AFGHANISTAN: More assistance needed for deprived children
AFGHANISTAN: NGOs react to MSF pullout
AFGHANISTAN: UN condemns bomb attack on election workers
CENTRAL ASIA: HIV/AIDS remains a problem in Ferghana Valley
CENTRAL ASIA: ADB approves food fortification project for the region
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on gold mining in west
PAKISTAN: IOM launches counter trafficking course
TAJIKISTAN: TB on the rise, say health officials
TURKMENISTAN: Tajik refugees await naturalization
UZBEKISTAN: Trust points work to bolster HIV prevention
AFGHANISTAN: Emergency aid reaches quake victims in Herat, Paktia
Emergency assistance, including food aid, has been sent to areas of
southeastern Paktia province and western Herat province hit by recent
earthquakes, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan (UNAMA). "In Paktia, several hundred houses have been
destroyed, mainly in three villages; while 150 houses have been destroyed
in a village in Herat."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42364&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: MSF pulls out of country
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) announced on Wednesday that it was
withdrawing from Afghanistan after 24 years of independent humanitarian
work following the government's failure to mount an adequate investigation
into the killing of five MSF workers in June. "The framework for
humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan is no longer possible." This
situation had arisen in a context in which the US-led forces had
constantly used humanitarian actions for their own military and political
purposes.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42408&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: More assistance needed for deprived children
A new report on the situation of children in Afghanistan emphasises the
need for more dramatic measures to be taken for those who are deprived of
parental care. The report, issued on Saturday, was a joint undertaking by
the Afghan Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF), and attempts to give a better understanding of
the circumstances of children lacking parental care in the country.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42400&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: NGOs react to MSF pullout
NGOs working in Afghanistan have expressed concern over the pullout of the
international NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), describing it as a
worrying message to the international aid community. "It sends a very
strong message to the humanitarian and international community." NGOs
understood MSF's decision to leave and stated that they will continue with
their programmes.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42433&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: UN condemns bomb attack on election workers
The United Nations has expressed outrage over Wednesday's bomb attack
against staff members of the Secretariat of the Joint Electoral Management
Body (JEMB) in Ghazni province, southwest of the Afghan capital Kabul,
which killed one JEMB staff member and a voter who had come to register.
Seven others were injured in the attack, including two seriously.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42423&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: HIV/AIDS remains a problem in Ferghana Valley
HIV/AIDS remains a problem in the densely populated Ferghana Valley,
shared by Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and home to some 10
million people. There are more than 700 HIV-infected people in the region.
"The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in [the Uzbek part of] the Ferghana Valley
is 273 cases and there is a tendency for growth."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42383&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
CENTRAL ASIA: ADB approves food fortification project for the region
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US $2 million grant for a
food fortification project in Central Asia aimed at reducing iron
deficiency anaemia and iodine deficiency disorders among children and
women. While developing the capacity of the public and private sectors,
the project serves to boost the supply of quality fortified food or food
with vitamins and mineral supplements.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42381&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
This week in Central Asia started with the departure of Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)'s Ambassador to Turkmenistan,
Paraschiva Badescu. The OSCE's Romanian envoy left the country on Saturday
after the Turkmen government refused to extend her accreditation for
another six months, the NewsCentralAsia web site reported.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42447&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on gold mining in west
Fuelled by acute poverty and unemployment, hundreds of people in western
Kyrgyzstan are making a living by digging gold, often endangering their
lives as they seek their fortune in the fast mountain rivers. To the
casual observer, the young and old people travelling along the small
mountain rivers in the area might be fishermen. Local people say gold can
be extracted along the Kasansai River as well as other tributaries of the
Syr Darya river, a major water source in Central Asia, in the Chatkal
mountains in western Kyrgyzstan.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42407&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
PAKISTAN: IOM launches counter trafficking course
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday launched
Pakistan's first ever counter trafficking training course for senior law
enforcement officials in the country, including those from the Federal
Investigation Agency (FIA), the agency mandated to check human
trafficking. "What we want to do with this training is really acquaint law
enforcement with the issues involved in trafficking and how to address the
problem and protect the victims."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42384&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: TB on the rise, say health officials
The number of tuberculosis cases is on the rise in Tajikistan, with
official statistics showing that the country now has more than 12,000
patients suffering from the disease. "This disease poses a serious
problem, both to the state and society. According to the National TB
Control Centre, between 2,800 and 3,500 new cases of TB are registered
each year in Tajikistan, and this trend continues to go upward."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42371&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
TURKMENISTAN: Tajik refugees await naturalization
An hours drive eastwards from the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, you reach a
settlement called Babadurmaz in the southern province of Akhal, where a
community of 300 Tajik refugee families lives. They have long been settled
and well integrated into Turkmen society but, as ethnic Turkmen, are still
awaiting naturalisation. There are more than 14,000 Tajik refugees -
mostly ethnic Turkmen - mainly living in Akhal, Lebap and Mary provinces.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42421&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: Trust points work to bolster HIV prevention
Since the beginning of 2004 there have been some 1,500 permanent clients
among the 10 trust points now functioning in Tashkent. Operating under the
HIV/AIDS prevention control project for high risk groups and youth in
Tashkent entitled SOS project the trust points have succeeded in
distributing nearly half a million needles and more than 28,000 condoms to
their target groups.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42417&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
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