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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 100
25 November - 2 December 2006


CONTENTS:

PAKISTAN: Agencies ready to help vulnerable families in quake zone
PAKISTAN: Slave labour still common in Sindh
PAKISTAN: FAO completes seed distribution in quake zone
PAKISTAN: UN and government plan to develop former Afghan refugee camps
PAKISTAN: Water aid flows in quake zone
PAKISTAN: Afghan registration passes half million mark
NEPAL: Families of disappeared call for action
NEPAL: Children at work susceptible to sexual abuse, say activists
NEPAL: Final agreement on management of combatants and weapons
AFGHANISTAN: Health crisis brewing in isolated Nuristan province
AFGHANISTAN: Almost half of all Afghan children not in school - Oxfam
AFGHANISTAN: Desperate women choose suicide


PAKISTAN: Agencies ready to help vulnerable families in quake zone

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 
(IFRC), together with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), is ready 
to start distribution of transitional shelter kits to some 13,500 families 
affected by last year~Rs massive earthquake in northern Pakistan.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56532&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Slave labour still common in Sindh

Eight years ago Munnu Bheel began his quest in the southern Pakistani 
province of Sindh to secure the release of nine family members who had 
been kidnapped by a local landlord. Now, despite hunger strikes, court 
appeals and petitions to authorities, Munnu Bheel's family members remain 
missing. They include his mother, Akho; his wife, Mauta; his daughters 
Momal and Dheeli; his sons Chaman and Kalji and his brother, Jalal.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56535&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: FAO completes seed distribu tion in quake zone

The UN~Rs Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has completed seed 
distribution for the winter wheat crop across Pakistan~Rs 
earthquake-affected region, officials said on Wednesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56571&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: UN and government plan to develop former Afghan refugee camps

The Pakistani government, together with United Nations agencies and a core 
of NGOs, has completed the first assessment under an initiative to 
rehabilitate and develop areas where Afghan refugees have lived over a 
long period.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56555&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Water aid flows in quake zone

The future looks brighter for more than 41,000 people in remote mountain 
communities in Pakistan~Rs earthquake zone thanks to a determined drive to 
complete water supply schemes by one international aid agency before the 
onset of winter.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56553&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Afghan registration passes half million mark

More than half a million Afghans living in Pakistan have been registered 
in a drive to provide them with official identification for a three-year 
period, UN officials said on Thursday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56590&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=PAKISTAN


NEPAL: Families of disappeared call for action

The families of the disappeared in Nepal are calling for both the 
government and the Maoist rebels to keep promises made in the recent peace 
agreement to find the victims of the disappearances and punish the 
perpetrators.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56531&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Children at work susceptible to sexual abuse, say activists

Child rights activists are concerned that the lack of robust laws against 
the sexual abuse of children is putting a large number of young domestic 
workers at risk. According to a study by the International Labour 
Organisation (ILO), there are an estimated 21,000 child domestics working 
in the capital, Kathmandu, alone. A large number of children migrate from 
villages due to extreme poverty in search of a better life.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56556&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Final agreement on management of combatants and weapons

Maoist rebels and Nepal~Rs interim government signed a formal agreement on 
the management of both sides~R arms and weapons on Tuesday night.~SWe have 
been successful in reaching an agreement on a very crucial issue of our 
peace agreement,~T said home minister and key government negotiator 
Krishna Prasad Sitaula following the signing.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56570&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=NEPAL


AFGHANISTAN: Health crisis brewing in isolated Nuristan province

The lack of a general hospital in the isolated eastern province of 
Nuristan means that some 300,000 people are at risk of contracting a range 
of preventable diseases, with many women continuing to lose their lives 
due to preventable pregnancy-related conditions, local officials and 
tribal elders said on Monday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56530&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Almost half of all Afghan children not in school - Oxfam

Despite a five-fold increase in school enrolment since 2001, some 7 
million Afghan children - nearly half of all children in Afghanistan - are 
still missing out on education, a new report from the international aid 
group Oxfam, warned on Monday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56554&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Desperate women choose suicide

Some 100 women have attempted suicide by committing self-immolation or 
taking poison during the last eight months in the insurgency-hit southern 
province of Kandahar, an Afg han human rights watchdog said on Wednesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56568&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCo 
untry=AFGHANISTAN


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