Weekly Round-Up - IRINAS-08: 25-Feb-05
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 08
19 - 25 February 2005
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: First ever national human development report launched
AFGHANISTAN: Preparations for new parliament
AFGHANISTAN: Women face misery in Nuristan
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
IRAN: Hundreds feared dead in quake
IRAN: Relief efforts under way in quake-hit Kerman
IRAN: Focus on relief in aftermath of Kerman quake
KYRGYZSTAN: Programme boosts IT knowledge among youth
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on voter expectations
KYRGYZSTAN: Protests ahead of elections
NEPAL: Focus on impact of conflict on education
PAKISTAN: Afghan census starts
PAKISTAN: Focus shifts to rehabilitation of disaster-hit communities
PAKISTAN: Integrated Afghan refugees want to stay on
TAJIKISTAN: Country prepares for elections
AFGHANISTAN: First ever national human development report launched
After a decade of a lack of reliable information, Afghanistan launched
its first-ever National Human Development Report (NHDR) on Monday. The
report - entitled "Security with a Human Face" and based on two years'
work by the government and the United Nations - is expected to help
policy makers and stakeholders in the post-conflict country where there
has been very little relevant or reliable information.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45687&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Preparations for new parliament
A new multi-million-dollar project aims to put in place the necessary
democratic foundations for an Afghan legislature to be established
following parliamentary elections scheduled for early spring. Funded by
France, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will implement
the two-year project designed to ensure the timely establishment of the
Afghan parliament and support its functioning.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45710&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Women face misery in Nuristan
The wooden hut of Zulaikha, a 45-year-old midwife, remains the only ray
of hope for destitute women in the Nuristan valley, in northeastern
Nuristan province. Dozens of women gather around Zulaikha, many of them
after travelling from snow-capped mountains after a day's journey by
foot. While some come for treatment, others have been severely beaten by
their husbands or forced to leave their homes and children. Many women
claim that their husbands have sent them back to their parents after
coming down with tuberculosis (TB), the province's chief health concern,
or that they had become weak as a result of poor nourishment.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45758&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
This week in Central Asia was dominated by pre-election news from
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the two neighbouring countries where
parliamentary polls are scheduled for Sunday. Following decisions by
local courts to withdraw some parliamentary candidates from the contest
in Kyrgyzstan, thousands of their supporters continued to protest in
various parts of the country on Friday for the fifth day running, Kyrgyz
media reported.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45781&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
IRAN: Hundreds feared dead in quake
Hundreds of people have been reported dead and up to 1,000 injured after
a powerful earthquake struck the southeast Iranian province of Kerman on
Tuesday. "There were no standing buildings, no structures that would
give any shelter to any people - survivors of this earthquake," Kari
Egge, a representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in
Iran, told IRIN following her visit to Douhan, a village she described
as the quake's epicentre.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45708&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN
IRAN: Relief efforts under way in quake-hit Kerman
Efforts to provide assistance to quake-hit villages in Iran's
southeastern Kerman province are now under way, according to officials.
"We dispatched three cargo aircraft to the region with food and
[other]relief items," Mehrdad Eshragi, deputy director-general of the
international affairs department at the Iranian Red Crescent Society
(IRCS), told IRIN from the capital, Tehran, on Wednesday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45737&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN
IRAN: Focus on relief in aftermath of Kerman quake
The earthquake that struck Iran's southeastern Kerman province early on
Tuesday turned the mountain village of Houtkan into mud, killed many of
its inhabitants and reduced the survivors to homelessness and
destitution. The village was almost totally destroyed and, because it is
so isolated, help has been slow to reach the stricken community. On
Thursday, the weather was very cold and a heavy mist hung over Houtkan,
lending an already nightmarish scene a surreal and ghostly quality. The
steep hillside to which the village used to cling was a mass of broken
walls, bent telephone poles and twisted metal door and window frames,
poking out at odd angles from the thick mud.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45757&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Programme boosts IT knowledge among youth
A US-supported training programme on computer skills and literacy in
Kyrgyzstan is helping young people boost their information technology
(IT) knowledge while providing free access to information. "In our
school we have very old computers and we do not have an information
technology (IT) teacher. I came here to learn how to work with computers
and the Internet. Moreover, it is completely free of charge," Shirin
Osmonalieva, a 15-year-old schoolgirl excitedly trying to find some
information on the web, told IRIN in the capital, Bishkek.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45682&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on voter expectations
Although Kyrgyzstan is set to elect its fourth parliament on Sunday and,
possibly, the second president in its history later in the year, voter
trust in the election system remains low. If President Askar Akaev keeps
his promise not to run for re-election, it will be Central Asia's first
change of leader since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Voter
turnout is expected to be higher than in previous elections for a number
of reasons, including the unique and decisive political moment, events
in Ukraine and Georgia which have inspired many voters hoping for
change, as well as numerous voter rights awareness raising campaigns,
supported by international donors.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45712&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Protests ahead of elections
With only a couple of days left before parliamentary elections in
Kyrgyzstan, thousands of people are protesting against the recent
court-ordered withdrawal of their candidates. "We are not seeing the
rule of law. We demand free and fair elections," Edil Baisalov, national
coordinator of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, a local
NGO, told IRIN in the capital, Bishkek, on Thursday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45768&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
NEPAL: Focus on impact of conflict on education
Chandra Devi Rokaya is barely 12 years old but she has already
experienced a life of terror. Six months ago, Chandra witnessed her
father, Dhanraj, being shot dead by Maoist rebels simply because he was
a government employee. Dhanraj was just a simple postman earning a
meagre salary to feed his family and educate his children. "Why do we
have to endure this injustice? What have we done to deserve this?" asked
her 30-year-old mother Bacchu, sobbing uncontrollably.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45727&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL
PAKISTAN: Afghan census starts
The Pakistan government and the office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday launched the first ever
census of Afghans who have arrived in Pakistan over the past 25 years.
The 10-day exercise will continue until 4 March. "It has started only in
Peshawar, but it'll be under way in every place in Pakistan by the end
of the week," Jack Redden, a UNHCR spokesman, told IRIN in the Pakistani
capital, Islamabad.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45741&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Focus shifts to rehabilitation of disaster-hit communities
As the weather starts to clear, assessment missions are now reaching
areas badly affected by the heavy rains and snowfall over the past three
weeks in the southern and northern parts of Pakistan. "At the moment,
the distribution of emergency relief goods is almost complete everywhere
in [southwest] Balochistan province, except in a couple of snow-affected
areas in the northern district of Pishin, due to a road block. Besides,
several other organisations such as Islamic Relief, the Pakistan Red
Crescent Society and UN bodies are also distributing food and medical
supplies," Raziq Bugti of the provincial Crisis Management Cell (CMC),
told IRIN from the provincial capital, Quetta.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45718&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Integrated Afghan refugees want to stay on
Gul Hakeem, 52, is a respected shopkeeper in the Shadman Market area of
the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore. He is frequently called upon, as a
respected elder known for his cool head, to settle minor arguments. His
cloth shop in the market's basement area is a favourite gathering spot,
not least because of the tales and the jokes Hakeem can tell. He tells
them in Punjabi - the dominant language of the city.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45668&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Country prepares for elections
Khabibullo Sharipov is the director of rural school number 47 in
Shakhrinav district, 45 km north of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. In
addition to his work as a teacher, he is also an election commission
chairman for this Sunday's parliamentarian elections. During the 37
years of his professional life, he has repeatedly taken on this role as
schools automatically become polling stations and teachers act as ballot
officials at election times.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45754&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
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