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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 47
19 - 25 November 2005


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: New figures on drug use cause alarm
AFGHANISTAN: Workshop on basic labour rights
AFGHANISTAN: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to visit
AFGHANISTAN: Calls for an end to violence against women
CENTRAL ASIA: Asian Development Bank to boost regional cooperation
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on support for small business
KYRGYZSTAN: Four Andijan refugees still being held
PAKISTAN: 'Adopt a village' programme in quake zone
PAKISTAN: More than US $5.8 billion pledged for quake victims
PAKISTAN: Thousands of quake survivors still trapped in remote valleys
PAKISTAN: UN-Habitat launches quake shelter programme
PAKISTAN: HIV/AIDS set to spread warns UNAIDS
PAKISTAN: Quake town determined to rebuild
PAKISTAN: UK helicopters complete major aid drop
PAKISTAN: Funding shortfall hampers humanitarian response
PAKISTAN: Winterised tents still in very short supply in quake zone
PAKISTAN: Allai survivors determined to brave winter in mountains
TAJIKISTAN: Rate of HIV/AIDS infection up by 20 percent
UZBEKISTAN: NATO ban will not impact on Afghan operations
UZBEKISTAN: EBRD to stay


AFGHANISTAN: New figures on drug use cause alarm

Results of Afghanistan's first nationwide survey on drug use, released 
on Thursday, show high levels of abuse throughout the post-conflict 
country, which remains the biggest producer of opium in the world. The 
survey, conducted by the ministries of counter narcotics and public 
health over 2005, revealed that there were at least 920,000 drug users 
in Afghanistan, including about 150,000 who take opium, 50,000 using 
heroin and 520,000 taking hashish.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50296&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Workshop on basic labour rights

The Afghan Ministry of Labour and the International Labour Organization 
(ILO) are holding a three-day workshop on labour rights in the capital, 
Kabul, which concludes on Tuesday. The gathering is looking at 
implementation of the ILO's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and 
Rights at Work. "The workshop will enable ministry employees, workers' 
associations and journalists to know the fundamental conventions of the 
ILO," Mohammad Ghaous Bashiri, deputy minister of labour and social 
affairs, said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50249&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to visit

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will begin a two-day 
visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday. "High Commissioner Antonio Guterres, 
who took office in June, plans to travel first to Kabul, where he will 
meet President Hamid Karzai, other senior officials and UNHCR staff to 
discuss the repatriation and reintegration [of Afghan refugees] 
operation in the country," Nader Farhad, spokesman for the office of the 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said on Monday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50213&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Calls for an end to violence against women

Afghanistan's government is preparing to mark the International Day for 
the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Friday with a further call 
to raise awareness. Although the plight of Afghan women has improved 
somewhat following the collapse of the hard line Taliban regime in late 
2001, acts of intimidation and violence against them have continued 
unabated, with many women - particularly in rural areas - believing that 
their situation remains unchanged.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50273&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


CENTRAL ASIA: Asian Development Bank to boost regional cooperation

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Thursday it has allocated US 
$952 million to supporting regional cooperation in Central Asia over the 
next three years. The Manila-based ADB said the package was part of an 
updated strategy for its Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation 
(CAREC) programme. The 2006-2008 CAREC programme will include 16 major 
projects worth $943 million and 13 technical assistance grants, 
totalling $9 million, the bank said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50299&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

This week in Central Asia, five months after the Uzbek government 
ordered a US air base in the south of the country to close down, US 
troops left the military facility, which had been an important staging 
point for the US-led Coalition operations in Afghanistan. Tashkent 
issued a six month notice to Washington in July to shut the base after 
Washington criticised the violent crackdown on protests in the 
southeastern city of Andijan in May, pressing for an international probe 
into the killings of upwards of 1,000 people, according to rights 
groups.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50319&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on support for small business

With more than half of southern Kyrgyzstan's population still mired in 
poverty, the government of the Central Asian country needs to support 
and facilitate the development of small business in the region in order 
to tackle poverty and unemployment, activists say. Those issues were 
discussed at a recent training course jointly organised by the 
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the 
International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Kyrgyz agency for 
migration and employment in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50261&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: Four Andijan refugees still being held

Four Uzbek refugees continue to languish in a pre-trial detention centre 
in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, more than six months after fleeing a 
violent government crackdown in the southern Uzbek city of Andijan. 
"Their status remains the same. They're still in detention," Vitaly 
Maslousky, acting country representative for the office of the United 
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), confirmed from the Kyrgyz 
capital, Bishkek, on Thursday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50287&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


PAKISTAN: 'Adopt a village' programme in quake zone

A villager in a metal basket dangles above the Jhelum River as two boys 
tug at pulley ropes, edging him towards the riverbank. The basket 
wobbles precariously above the rocks and water. Since the devastating 
regional quake of 8 October that has killed at least 80,000 people, this 
is the only way people from the village of Purrak can reach the main 
road that leads to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered 
Kashmir.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50305&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: More than US $5.8 billion pledged for quake victims

In a rare display of solidarity, the international community on Saturday 
pledged more than US $5.8 billion in assistance to quake-devastated 
Pakistan. "We are really touched by your generosity, by your feeling of 
sharing our grief," Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said at the 
closing session of this weekend's international donor conference in the 
Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50195&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Thousands of quake survivors still trapped in remote valleys

Encircled by looming mountain peaks, the green Lipa Valley in 
Pakistani-administered Kashmir is a remote land, cut through by deep 
gorges and gushing rivers that flow down from the Himalayas. At least 
40,000 people live in Lipa Valley and some 15,000 lost their homes in 
the earthquake that devastated the region, killing over 80,000 people 
and leaving destruction across a huge area.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50209&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: UN-Habitat launches quake shelter programme

The United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) on Saturday 
launched a transitional winterised shelter initiative in Muzaffarabad, 
capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir and close to the epicentre of 
October's devastating quake that killed more than 80,000 people. "This 
[transitional shelter programme] will enable people to get through the 
winter comfortably. It involves the use of salvage material from 
demolished houses in combination with some new materials, specifically 
tin sheeting, as a way to give survivors a robust shelter to get through 
the winter," Szilard Fricska, a human settlement officer at UN-Habitat 
in Pakistan, said in the capital, Islamabad, on Saturday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50204&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: HIV/AIDS set to spread warns UNAIDS

Pakistan could see the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS among the general 
population due to a combination of high-risk behaviour and limited 
knowledge, warns the latest report from the UN joint programme on 
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The UNAIDS policy position report entitled, 
'Intensifying HIV Prevention', and released on Monday, has called for 
urgent prevention programmes to limit HIV transmission within, and 
beyond, high-risk groups such as intravenous drug users and sex workers.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50251&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Quake town determined to rebuild

Hundreds of children in the small town of Chinari in the Jelhum Valley, 
100 km northeast of the capital, Islamabad, were killed when the sheer 
force of the 8 October earthquake sent the town tumbling into the valley 
below. All that is left of the town are landslides and huge mounds of 
rubble that slipped down the mountain. The devastation here was brutal 
and the ruins are dramatic: homes sliced in half now balance on sheer 
ledges with their skeletal facades wobbling when trucks rumble past.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50229&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: UK helicopters complete major aid drop

A major operation to distribute 900 mt of aid in six days has been 
successfully completed from the city of Muzaffarabad, the capital of 
Pakistani-administered Kashmir and close to the epicentre of October's 
devastating regional quake. The British Department for International 
Development (DfID) donated the use of three Chinook helicopters and some 
90 crew from the Royal Air Force to undertake the difficult drops.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50222&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Funding shortfall hampers humanitarian response

Inadequate funding continues to hamper humanitarian efforts in quake-hit 
regions of northern Pakistan, where night temperatures in some places 
above 1,500 metres have already dropped below freezing. The UN Flash 
Appeal funding for winter relief operations is facing a critical 
shortfall of some US $250 million, with only $180 million received or 
committed to date, officials say.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50263&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Winterised tents still in very short supply in quake zone

Farman Khan and his family are fortunate. They have a tent, into which 
they crawl every night, hoping to gain some respite from the icy winds 
that bring temperatures down to freezing point as soon as the sun slips 
behind the mountains. But the flimsy canvas shelter, which has served as 
home for Farman, 36, his wife Zakia, 30, and their three children since 
14 October - a week after the devastating regional quake that killed at 
least 80,000 people - can do little to protect the family of survivors.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50262&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Allai survivors determined to brave winter in mountains

With his radio transistor pressed close to his right ear, Sultan Ahmed, 
42, sits outside a tiny tea shop in Bana, the main town of the Allai 
tehsil (administrative unit) in Battagram district, 150 km north of the 
capital, Islamabad. The radio, which he dug out from the rubble of his 
house high in the mountains of Allai a week after the 8 October quake, 
transmits a news broadcast in Urdu from Radio Pakistan.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50295&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: UNHCR head expresses solidarity with quake victims

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on Friday expressed 
solidarity with the government and people of Pakistan in dealing with 
the aftermath of the 8 October quake which ripped through the North West 
Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, killing at 
least 80,000 people and rendering over 3 million homeless. "All our 
resources and capacities are at your disposal," said Antonio Guterres in 
the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, addressing a press conference.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50321&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


TAJIKISTAN: Rate of HIV/AIDS infection up by 20 percent

The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Tajikistan rose by 20.5 
percent over the nine months to September 2005 compared to the same 
period last year, the head of the Republican AIDS Centre, Azamjon 
Mirzoev, said in the capital, Dushanbe, this week. The quantity of 
non-registered individuals with HIV could be much higher, Mirzoev added. 
"There are 454 HIV-infected individuals in Tajikistan or 6.8 individuals 
per 100 thousand people in the country. We have infected people in 38 
regions of Tajikistan," he said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50280&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: NATO ban will not impact on Afghan operations

A decision by Uzbekistan to no longer allow European North Atlantic 
Treaty Organization (NATO) members to use its territory or airspace, 
would not have an impact on the work of the International Security 
Assistance Force (ISAF) - currently led by NATO - in neighbouring 
Afghanistan, an ISAF official said on Thursday. "It is not envisaged 
that this will affect ISAF's mission which indeed is set to expand to 
provide security assistance to the Afghan government throughout the 
south in 2006 and eventually the whole of the country," Maj Andrew 
Elmes, ISAF spokesman in Kabul, said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50311&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: EBRD to stay

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), one of the 
largest foreign investors in Uzbekistan, has refuted claims it was 
considering closing down its operations as a result of deteriorating 
political circumstances inside the country. "Our country strategy hasn't 
changed," Vanora Bennett, an EBRD spokeswoman, said from London on 
Tuesday, citing a two-year strategy for Uzbekistan outlined in July 
2005.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50248&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


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