Weekly Round-Up - IRINAS-132: 15-Jul-07
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network
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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 132
9 - 15 July 2007
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Some 2,000 displaced by fighting in Helmand
AFGHANISTAN: Seventeen killed in suicide blast in Uruzgan Province
AFGHANISTAN: Contaminated water supplies likely cause of increased
diarrhea
AFGHANISTAN: War and lack of commitment hinder transitional justice
KAZAKHSTAN: Locust invasion in west under control, officials say
KAZAKHSTAN: Alarm raised over deteriorating health of men
NEPAL: Child workers face hazardous environments
NEPAL: Plight of internally displaced children not improving
NEPAL: Rescue teams struggle to bring aid to landslide victims
PAKISTAN: Deaths reported as heavy rains lash northwestern districts
PAKISTAN: Contaminated water a threat to millions in Punjab
SRI LANKA: Shortage of construction materials hampers rebuilding in
Jaffna
SRI LANKA: Disabled veterans battle high cost of prosthetics,
unemployment
SRI LANKA: NGOs face difficulties accessing resettlement areas in east
AFGHANISTAN: Some 2,000 displaced by fighting in Helmand
About 2,000 people, mostly women and children, have left their homes in
several parts of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, fleeing heavy
fighting between Taliban insurgents and NATO-led forces.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73151
AFGHANISTAN: Seventeen killed in suicide blast in Uruzgan Province
The government of Afghanistan and the UN have strongly condemned a
suicide attack in Uruzgan Province, central-southern Afghanistan, which
killed 17 people, including 12 schoolchildren, on 10 July. According to
Afghan officials, about 30 people were also wounded in the explosion in
the province's Dehrawod District.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73164
AFGHANISTAN: Contaminated water supplies likely cause of increased
diarrhea
Recent flooding in many parts of Afghanistan which has contaminated
drinking water sources is seen as the most likely cause of the reported
increase in diarrhoea cases countrywide.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73187
AFGHANISTAN: War and lack of commitment hinder transitional justice
More than 18 months after its adoption in The Hague, the Netherlands,
and seven months after its formal launch, the Action Plan for Truth,
Justice and Reconciliation (APTJR) in war-torn Afghanistan has been
hindered by lack of political commitment and armed conflict, UN and
Afghan officials told IRIN.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73244
KAZAKHSTAN: Locust invasion in west under control, officials say
Officials in western Kazakhstan have denied local media reports that a
locust invasion is threatening the region's harvest, saying the swarms
of Italian locusts, which have hit the area, are nowhere near
agricultural land.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73155
KAZAKHSTAN: Alarm raised over deteriorating health of men
Health experts in Kazakhstan have raised the alarm over deteriorating
health among men, calling for action to address the social, economic and
demographic consequences of rising male mortality rates and declining
male life expectancy.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73207
NEPAL: Child workers face hazardous environments
In oil-stained clothes, nine-year-old mechanic Ramesh Shahi is busy
changing the wheel of a tractor with injured hands. Ramesh is among
18,000 children working in the country's garages or similar workshops
considered to be among the most hazardous and unsafe workplaces
according to new research by a local NGO.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73134
NEPAL: Plight of internally displaced children not improving
Despite the end of Nepal's decade-long conflict between Maoist
guerrillas and the government in November 2006, a large number of
internally displaced persons (IDPs) are still unable to return home, and
live in extreme poverty in urban centres.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73190
NEPAL: Rescue teams struggle to bring aid to landslide victims
Rescue teams have been struggling to access villages hit by landslides
in the remote hill areas of western Nepal, according to government and
Red Cross officials. Torrential rainfall since 14 July was particularly
heavy in Baglung and Bajura districts, killing at least 26 people,
destroying many houses and displacing a large number of villagers, the
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73245
PAKISTAN: Deaths reported as heavy rains lash northwestern districts
Torrential rain in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has
swept at least 22 people to their deaths. The deaths occurred in
northern NWFP, in the remote Kohistan District, after heavy rains on 8
July triggered landslides and flooding in the area, blocking the
Pakistan-China road at several points.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73153
PAKISTAN: Contaminated water a threat to millions in Punjab
Urban water quality in Pakistan has deteriorated dangerously over the
past decade and the country's most heavily populated province, the
Punjab, is at risk, say specialists. In Lahore, capital of the Punjab,
east Pakistan, leaking sewage pipes are allowing dirty water to seep
into drinking water pipes, causing an increase in water-borne diseases.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73205
SRI LANKA: Shortage of construction materials hampers rebuilding in
Jaffna
Two-and-a-half-years after the tsunami struck the Jaffna peninsula in
northern Sri Lanka, the 432 students at Valvai Sivaguru Vid school in
Point Pedro eagerly await the completion of their new school. The school
and one other in Point Pedro - Valvettiturai RCTMS (Roman Catholic Tamil
Mixed School) - are being constructed by UNICEF with UNOPS overseeing
the projects.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73138
SRI LANKA: Disabled veterans battle high cost of prosthetics,
unemployment
Sri Lankan government forces have been embroiled in a prolonged war
against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for over
three decades during which an estimated 65,000 civilians and combatants
have been killed. The army says up to the end of 2006 there were some
11,154 officers and soldiers "with some form of permanent disability".
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73213
SRI LANKA: NGOs face difficulties accessing resettlement areas in east
Two months after a massive government-sponsored resettlement programme
started in eastern Sri Lanka's Batticaloa District, non-governmental
organisations working in the area have yet to gain continuous access to
some resettlement communities, particularly in Batticaloa West.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73232
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