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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 144
1 - 7 October 2007


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Teenager hanged by Taliban in latest child killing
AFGHANISTAN: Lack of agreement on how to tackle IDP issue in south
AFGHANISTAN: Some aid vulnerable to mismanagement, corruption, say
   experts
BANGLADESH: Drowning leading cause of death among children
BANGLADESH: Greater disaster preparedness needed
NEPAL: Newly displaced fear to return home, seek security guarantees
NEPAL: Former Maoist rebels threaten to disrupt elections
NEPAL: Grassroots communities most affected by suspension of elections
PAKISTAN: Landless quake victims to receive compensation
PAKISTAN: Tented schools a reality for 800,000 quake-affected children
PAKISTAN: Faisal Awan, Pakistan: "We have been forgotten"
SRI LANKA: Monks show solidarity with Myanmar protesters


AFGHANISTAN: Teenager hanged by Taliban in latest child killing

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has condemned the 
hanging of a teenager boy by Taliban insurgents in Sangin District of 
volatile Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. On 30 September armed 
Taliban men hanged a 15-year-old boy on charges of espionage for foreign 
forces based in Afghanistan, said Ezatullah Mujahid, the administrator 
of Sangin District.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74597


AFGHANISTAN: Lack of agreement on how to tackle IDP issue in south

Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in and around Kandahar 
city in southern Afghanistan need to be temporarily sheltered in a new 
camp and provided with urgent humanitarian assistance, provincial aid 
workers told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74609


AFGHANISTAN: Some aid vulnerable to mismanagement, corruption, say 
experts

Relief operations in insecure parts of Afghanistan are highly vulnerable 
to waste and corruption, local officials, residents, aid officials and 
analysts say. "The spending imperative, the weakness of the Afghan 
government, and insecurity have contributed to a high risk of corruption 
in 'postwar' Afghanistan," stated a July 2007 report by humanitarian 
think-tank ODI.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74635


BANGLADESH: Drowning leading cause of death among children

Hardly a day goes by in Bangladesh in which the media do not report a 
child's death by drowning, with this year's heavy monsoon rains only 
driving those numbers higher. In the last week over a dozen deaths - all 
of them children aged 16 months to 11 years old - were reported.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74571


BANGLADESH: Greater disaster preparedness needed

Rupchand Bibi is a widow with little more than a thatched hut along the 
Dharla, a relatively quiet river that meanders through much of 
Bangladesh from its origins in the Himalayas. But this year - after 
unusually heavy monsoon rains - the Dharla took her home, rendering her 
and thousands more homeless.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74683


NEPAL: Newly displaced fear to return home, seek security guarantees

Thousands of displaced people are fearful of returning to their homes in 
the Terai region of southern Nepal, after ethnic clashes forced them 
flee nearly two weeks ago, local human rights activists told IRIN. They 
say they have not received sufficient guarantees of their security.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74593


NEPAL: Former Maoist rebels threaten to disrupt elections

Concern is growing among politicians and foreign envoys that the 
elections for Nepal's Constituent Assembly next month could be 
disrupted. The focus of their concerns is threats by former Maoist 
rebels to sabotage the elections unless the government fulfils their 
demands to implement a fully proportional electoral system and declare 
Nepal a republic in parliament.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74638


NEPAL: Grassroots communities most affected by suspension of elections

Sheela Nepali had been counting down the days until Nepal's national 
elections for its Constituent Assembly were to take place on 22 
November. For her, the vote was a hope for a new beginning. But her 
hopes were dashed when increasing violence between various ethnic groups 
delayed the vote. Then, the government announced that the elections were 
suspended indefinitely.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74681


PAKISTAN: Landless quake victims to receive compensation

The Pakistani government has begun compensating those left landless by a 
devastating earthquake almost two years ago - a move likely to help 
thousands of quake victims rebuild their lives.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74584


PAKISTAN: Tented schools a reality for 800,000 quake-affected children

On 8 October 2005 at least 17,000 students and 900 teachers were killed 
in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and the country's North West Frontier 
Province (NWFP), according to the UN. Eight thousand schools out of a 
total of 11,534 primary and secondary schools in the mountainous region 
were destroyed while nearly one million children needed school support.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74601


PAKISTAN: Faisal Awan, Pakistan: "We have been forgotten"

I will never forget the earthquake. Within seconds, we lost everything - 
something hard to imagine unless you actually go through it.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74633


SRI LANKA: Monks show solidarity with Myanmar protesters

A group of monks chanting from sacred Buddhist scripts is not a typical 
scene near the UN compound in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, but 100 
monks from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand and Bangladesh were 
there to support the pro-democracy protests in Myanmar.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74636

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