Weekly Round-Up - IRINAS-16: 22-Apr-05
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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 16
16 - 22 April 2005
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: National iodine campaign
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: UNHCR to close more camps in Pakistan
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on post-Akayev Russian exodus
NEPAL: Interview with Dennis McNamara, UN internal displacement special
adviser
NEPAL: Tuberculosis still a public health menace
PAKISTAN: Water deficiency remains key issue
PAKISTAN: Afghan delegation encouraging repatriation
PAKISTAN: Prison conditions for juveniles set to improve
PAKISTAN: Hijra community seeks HIV awareness
TAJIKISTAN: Reaction to OSCE urging more democracy
TAJIKISTAN: Donors meet to discuss landmines
UZBEKISTAN: Focus on cancer prevalence in the Ferghana Valley
UZBEKISTAN: Activists call for release of journalist
AFGHANISTAN: National iodine campaign
A nationwide multi-media campaign was launched on Tuesday calling on
Afghan families to use iodised salt, following new findings which
indicate that Afghanistan is facing a high prevalence of
iodine-deficiency disorders, including goitre, stunted physical growth
and mental retardation. The campaign is using radio and television
spots, posters and banners and point-of-sale information leaflets that
will show consumers the benefits of consuming iodised salt.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46722&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: UNHCR to close more camps in Pakistan
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
is planning to close some of the camps housing Afghan refugees in parts
of Pakistan's two western provinces of Balochistan and North West
Frontier Province (NWFP), which border Afghanistan. "The exact schedule
has yet to be finalised. However, the [refugee] camps located in the
western tribal region along NWFP and also those in Chagai district of
Balochistan would be closed or consolidated in the next two months,"
Jack Redden, a UNHCR spokesman, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital,
Islamabad.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46744&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
Human rights dominated the news in Central Asia this week when a
coalition of rights groups in Europe and Central Asia called for a
regional death penalty-free zone on Wednesday. In an open letter, the
coalition urged all regional countries retaining the death penalty to
follow the recommendations of a resolution by the United Nations
Commission on Human Right (UNHRC) calling for a moratorium on executions
and the observance of international safeguards in death penalty cases.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46762&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on post-Akayev Russian exodus
After the revolution which toppled the regime of Askar Akayev in
Kyrgyzstan on 24 March, Russians and some other ethnic minority groups
are leaving the country in larger numbers. The main reasons given are
the unstable social, political and economic situation, uncertainty about
the country's future and the fear of a possible civil war.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46705&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
NEPAL: Interview with Dennis McNamara, UN internal displacement special
adviser
Dennis McNamara, Special Adviser to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator
on Internal Displacement, is on a seven-day visit with other UN
officials to Nepal to assess the situation of internal displacement in
the country and to enhance national and international protection of
those forced to leave their homes due to the ongoing Maoist insurgency
and widespread poverty in the Himalayan kingdom.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46704&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL
NEPAL: Tuberculosis still a public health menace
As one of Nepal's worst health problems, tuberculosis (TB) kills between
5,000-7,000 Nepalis every year, according to Ministry of Health. The
ongoing insurgency against Maoist separatists has made effective
treatment and prevention of the disease problematic, but has not
deterred national anti-TB programmes, health workers say. Despite this,
health experts say that the TB mortality rate would be much higher if
not for the National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) run by the
government's National Tuberculosis Centre (NTC), with technical and
financial assistance from a consortium of international health agencies.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46745&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL
PAKISTAN: Water deficiency remains key issue
With the country fast heading towards a water-deficient status, experts
at a workshop in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, this week emphasised
the need to educate the public about the natural water shortages and
efficient management of available water both for household and
irrigation purposes. "The awareness of end-users [of water] is critical
at the moment since they have to face the fallout. At the same time, an
integrated and sustainable approach at the institutional level is
required to efficiently manage the available water resources to cope
with future challenges," Dr Shahid Ahmed, director of water resources
directorate of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), told
IRIN in Islamabad.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46743&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Afghan delegation encouraging repatriation
A delegation of the Afghan Return Commission Working Group (RCWG) has
been visiting Afghan refugees of Turkmen origin in the Pakistani city of
Attock in Punjab province, some 80 km northeast of the capital,
Islamabad, to hear their concerns about repatriation. The RCWG, a
government body, was formed three years ago to help remove obstacles in
the way of repatriation of the millions of Afghans living in
neighbouring countries.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46703&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Prison conditions for juveniles set to improve
Pakistan's leading child rights organisation has started renovation work
at the main juvenile prison facility in the provincial capital of
Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Peshawar. The physical
condition of almost all 22 jails in the province is grim, a rights
activist told IRIN, with little renovation work having been carried out
in more than half a century in most cases.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46698&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Hijra community seeks HIV awareness
For members of Pakistan's eunuch-transvestite, or Hijra community, open
discussion about HIV/AIDS prevention remains a closed book. Cultural
descendents of the court of eunuchs of the Mughal Empire (1526-1858),
most Hijra today earn their living as prostitutes, beggars or dancers.
"Our customers aren't interested in such things. They're interested in
sex!" Sheila, a 30-something Hijra working the back streets of Lahore's
red light Hira Mundi district, told IRIN laughingly.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46721&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Reaction to OSCE urging more democracy
A call by Dmitrij Rupel, the head of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Tuesday to improve the electoral process
and promote free media in Tajikistan has drawn mixed reaction from the
government, opposition and civic groups in the country. Shokirjon
Khakimov, deputy head of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan
(SDPT), one of the main opposition groups, welcomed the call by Europe's
largest security body. "The head of the OSCE raised real issues present
in Tajik society, particularly those related to the implementation of
Tajikistan's commitments to the OSCE," Khakimov told IRIN in the Tajik
capital, Dushanbe, on Wednesday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46729&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Donors meet to discuss landmines
Landmines continue to remain a source of concern in Tajikistan,
particularly in the north, with the number of mine victims in the area
increasing over the past few months, according to mine action officials.
"The issue of landmines remains complicated, particularly on the Uzbek
border in the north," Jonmakhmad Rajabov, head of the Tajik Mine Action
Centre (TMAC), told IRIN in the capital, Dushanbe, on Thursday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46749&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: Focus on cancer prevalence in the Ferghana Valley
Sultanbai Tukhliev, a resident of the Altyaryk district in the eastern
Uzbek province of Ferghana, suffers from cancer of the kidney. Currently
undergoing medical treatment at the provincial cancer hospital,
Sultanbai told IRIN that he became aware of his disease rather late.
"First I paid no attention to my poor health and only when I was
seriously ill, did I go to see the doctor. I was taken to the Altyaryk
district hospital, but I did not feel any better there," he said.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46699&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: Activists call for release of journalist
A campaign calling for the release of Uzbek journalist Sabirjon Yakubov
is gaining momentum following what activists refer to as trumped up
charges against him earlier this month. "We are calling for his
immediate release and due process of law," Pascale Bonnamour, head of
the Europe desk for Reporters Without Borders (RSF) told IRIN from Paris
on Wednesday, noting their organisation's concern for the young
journalist's safety while in jail.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46728&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
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