U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
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e-mail: irin@irin.org.pk


Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 131
2 - 8 July 2007


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Government calls for help as HIV rates rise
AFGHANISTAN: Civilians complain about impact of fighting on their lives
AFGHANISTAN: Hundreds of families displaced by floods, livelihoods lost
AFGHANISTAN: Over six million face food insecurity
AFGHANISTAN: Insecurity deprives thousands of students of food aid
NEPAL: Traditional water mill technology helps boost livelihoods
PAKISTAN: Aid begins to reach disaster-hit Sindh, Balochistan
PAKISTAN: Thirteen thousand remain in post-quake camps in north
PAKISTAN: Top official compares storm to 2005 earthquake
PAKISTAN: Receding waters leave behind deep resentment in Balochistan
SRI LANKA: Few can afford to buy at Jaffna's restocked markets
SRI LANKA: No tangible progress in investigations into murdered aid
   workers
SRI LANKA: Data on past disasters to help forecast cyclical trends


AFGHANISTAN: Government calls for help as HIV rates rise

The numbers may be small, but HIV infection rates are rising in 
Afghanistan, prompting the government to call for help from UNAIDS. In 
2006, there were only 75 people living with HIV and AIDS in an estimated 
population of 27 million, but according to Afghanistan's Ministry of 
Public Health, the rise in cases is due in part to an improved capacity 
to test for HIV.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73044


AFGHANISTAN: Civilians complain about impact of fighting on their lives

According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Education, hundreds of schools in 
volatile provinces remain closed due to the insecurity. Aid and many 
other services are effectively not reaching restive areas.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73061


AFGHANISTAN: Hundreds of families displaced by floods, livelihoods lost

Almost a week after floods ravaged eight provinces in Afghanistan 26-28 
June, aid agencies have started releasing their assessments of 
casualties and damage incurred. According to a preliminary report by the 
UN Children's Agency (UNICEF), flash floods killed 113 people in six 
provinces, including six victims in Kabul.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73075


AFGHANISTAN: Over six million face food insecurity

Three out of 10 Afghans suffer from chronic food insecurity, which badly 
affects the health and well-being of the estimated 27-million nation, 
said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). According to FAO, 
6.5 million people face food insecurity in Afghanistan in 2007.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73095


AFGHANISTAN: Insecurity deprives thousands of students of food aid

Thousands of students attending 40 schools in Afghanistan's central 
Ghazni Province have not received food assistance from the World Food 
Programme (WFP) for over a month due to insecurity in the area, local 
officials told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73131


NEPAL: Traditional water mill technology helps boost livelihoods

Sitting in a tiny water mill, popularly known as a 'ghatta' in Nepalese, 
65-year-old farmer Ram Sharma waits for his customers to come with their 
wheat and maize to grind flour for a small fee. Sharma built his 
`ghatta' two years ago after he lost all his farmland and property in 
flash floods that devastated Dhading village in Makwanpur District, 
200km east of the capital, Kathmandu.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73086


PAKISTAN: Aid begins to reach disaster-hit Sindh, Balochistan

Aid for the over 1.5 million people severely hit by cyclonic rains and 
flooding in Pakistan's southern provinces of Sindh and Balochistan had 
by 2 July begun reaching those most seriously affected.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73028


PAKISTAN: Thirteen thousand remain in post-quake camps in north

Almost two years after a powerful earthquake ripped through parts of 
northern Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, there are over 
13,000 people still in tented camps across the quake zone facing a 
number of problems, including food aid and land to relocate to.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73050


PAKISTAN: Top official compares storm to 2005 earthquake

The chief minister of Balochistan Province, Jam Muhammad Yousaf, said on 
3 July the scale of the disaster following recent rains and floods was 
"no less" than that caused by the northern Pakistan earthquake of 
October 2005, at least in terms of damage to livestock and land.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73069


PAKISTAN: Receding waters leave behind deep resentment in Balochistan

Even as rescue work continues across Pakistan's Balochistan Province, 
the lapping waters have brought with them a seething sense of outrage. 
Perceptions of unfair treatment by the central government have been 
strengthened by complaints regarding delays in the start of relief work 
in the province.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73090


SRI LANKA: Few can afford to buy at Jaffna's restocked markets

Jaffna's town market is once again stocked, with many of its small 
retail shops bursting with canned and packaged goods and large bags of 
dried fish, lentils, dhal and rice. However, increasing numbers of 
Jaffna residents and the 40,000 internally displaced people in the 
district cannot afford them.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73035


SRI LANKA: No tangible progress in investigations into murdered aid 
workers

At least 33 local humanitarian workers - from organizations including 
Hudec, World Concern and the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation - have 
been killed or are missing and presumed dead in Sri Lanka since January 
2006. Scores more have been abducted, intimidated and released. Police 
have yet to find the perpetrators of the recent killings of Red Cross 
workers.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73055


SRI LANKA: Data on past disasters to help forecast cyclical trends

Buffeted by recurring floods, droughts and epidemics, Sri Lanka has 
begun tracking the social and economic impact of disasters over three 
decades in a bid to reduce the effects of future calamities.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73119


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