Weekly Round-Up - IRINAS-11: 18-Mar-05
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 11
12 - 18 March 2005
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Finding a solution for Afghans who wish to stay
AFGHANISTAN: Law on forced marriages still widely flouted
AFGHANISTAN: Mixed reaction to calls for opium legalisation
AFGHANISTAN: New campaign to encourage girls into school
PAKISTAN: Sharing best practice in reproductive health
PAKISTAN: Concerns over health conditions in north
KYRGYZSTAN: Election protests continue
NEPAL: Interview with ICRC Delegate General
NEPAL: Focus on media censorship
KAZAKHSTAN: UNDP reports highlight Semipalatinsk
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Finding a solution for Afghans who wish to stay
The government of Pakistan and the office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have started discussions with donor
agencies over the future of Afghans who wish to stay in Pakistan at the
end of the tripartite agreement in March 2006. "Consultations are going
on to look into the options for the Afghans in Pakistan after the expiry
of the existing agreement for voluntary repatriation in March next year.
Besides that, consultations are going on over the development of the
Afghan refugee-impacted areas of Pakistan," Jack Redden, a spokesman for
UNHCR told IRIN in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46170&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Law on forced marriages still widely flouted
Standing out from the crowd in a queue of women waiting outside the
Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs to submit their complaints, Turgul
Khan looks a little confused. The 22-year-old resident of Jilgah in the
central province of Wardak is seeking help and advice from the
ministry's legal department as his family is under pressure from
relatives to marry off his 13-year-old sister and he's not happy about
it. Although the legal age for marriage in Afghanistan is 16 for females
and 18 for males, many people, particularly in rural areas, either
ignore the law or claim they are not aware of it.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46135&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Mixed reaction to calls for opium legalisation
Local officials and NGOs are divided on the idea of legalising opium
cultivation for medical purposes in Afghanistan, currently the world's
top producer of the illicit crop. "It is a new idea, and proper research
has to be done to look again at all sides of it; the control mechanism,
permission from the International Narcotics Control Board [INCB], and
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC]," Habibulllah
Qaderi, Minister of Counter Narcotics, told IRIN in the capital Kabul,
on Tuesday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46119&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: New campaign to encourage girls into school
A national campaign to boost girls' enrollment was launched in
Afghanistan over the weekend as the country prepares for a new school
year at the end of March. "This is a very important day as a week ago we
celebrated 8 March International Women's Day and today we are launching
an education campaign [targeting girls]," Noor Mohammad Qarqeen,
minister of education, said at the official ceremony to launch the
campaign on Saturday. The public awareness campaign led by the Ministry
of Education (MoE) and supported by the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) is the result of substantive research undertaken throughout the
country in 2004, the agency said.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46093&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
PAKISTAN: Sharing best practice in reproductive health
Despite a high rate of population growth, reproductive health (RH) and
family planning services continue to be in demand in both urban and
rural communities in Pakistan, health activists told IRIN on Wednesday.
"People are aware of reproductive health issues but have lacked access
to contraceptive services," Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, programme coordinator of
the Pakistan Voluntary Health and Nutrition Association (PVHNA), told
IRIN from the southern port city of Karachi. According to government
figures, Pakistan had a population of 146 million in 2002, making it the
seventh most populous country in the world. At its current rate of
growth, Pakistan's population will double by 2035.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46152&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Concerns over health conditions in north
Concerns are growing over deteriorating health conditions in northern
parts of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) after two months
of torrential rains and record snowfall in the isolated region. "As the
roads are opening and inner areas are getting more accessible, health
concerns are increasing. Intense weather has caused huge displacement of
people. Food supplies are short and sanitary conditions are
unsatisfactory in these areas," Dr Quaid Saeed, an emergency medical
officer working with the NWFP provincial branch of the World Health
Organization (WHO), told IRIN in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46120&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Election protests continue
Opposition protest continued in many parts of Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday,
expressing popular discontent with Sunday's run-off polls that have
resulted in a strong majority for pro-government parties. The opposition
accuses authorities of widespread abuses in the elections, in which
President Askar Akayev secured an overwhelmingly loyal parliament. In
the northern town of Talas, a few hundred supporters of Ravshan
Dzheyenbekov, a former Akayev loyalist, stopped the local governor from
leaving his office. "But he was released late on Tuesday evening,"
Tolekan Ismailova, head of a local NGO, Civic Society Against
Corruption, told IRIN from Talas.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46136&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
NEPAL: Interview with ICRC Delegate General
Since King Gyanendra took direct control of the country on 1 February,
Nepal has seen a series of high-level visits from international
humanitarian and human rights bodies, who are concerned about the impact
the current state of emergency is having on the population. The Delegate
General for Asia and Pacific at the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC), Reto Meister, was recently in the capital Kathmandu.
During his short visit, he was able to meet King Gyanendra and other
senior state officials. Just before his departure, Meister spoke to
IRIN.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46140&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL
NEPAL: Focus on media censorship
Rajendra Dahal, a widely respected Nepali journalist, is one of the few
standing firm against the state's near total censorship of the media.
King Gyanendra assumed direct rule of the country on 1 February after
declaring a state of emergency. As the editor of Nepal's top news
magazine, Himal Khabarpatrika, Dahal is probably the last editor left in
the country who is going to press carrying criticism of the regime, but
his days are numbered, fellow journalists say. "I don't know when they
will shut my mouth forever. But we have a job to do," Dahal told IRIN.
On 7 March, his publisher and an eminent journalist, Kanak Mani Dixit,
had been arrested for their critical view on the king's action.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46091&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL
KAZAKHSTAN: UNDP reports highlight Semipalatinsk
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kazakhstan has
launched two separate reports on the plight of those living around the
former nuclear testing site of Semipalatinsk, 500 km east of the
capital, Astana. "Health problems remain serious and health
infrastructure is inadequate," Yuriko Shoji, UNDP resident
representative in Kazakhstan told IRIN from the commercial capital
Almaty. "Vulnerable social groups such as the disabled, pensioners,
orphans, etc, are receiving inadequate social welfare support and social
services, and lack opportunities to generate income," she maintained.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46142&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
Kazakh state television announced on Monday that, according to current
estimates, floods have inflicted damage worth more than US $ 4.6 million
in the southern Kyzylorda Region, quoting regional governor, Ikram
Adyrbekov. Over 80 houses and 6,835 ha of farmland have been flooded.
The floods killed hundreds of livestock and destroyed hydro technical
facilities and roads, but there was no loss of life or reported
injuries. Power and telecommunications lines were also damaged. The
mayor of Kyzlorda said that a state of emergency had been declared in
the Zhanakorgan, Shiyeli, Syrdariya and Zhalagash Districts and 30,000
people had been evacuated to safe areas. Floods are now expected in the
districts located in the lower reaches of the Syr Darya river. Deputy
Emergency Situations Minister Bolat Zhanasayev said that emergency
personnel would be monitoring ice floes in the river until they reach
the Aral Sea.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46186&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
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