Weekly Round-Up - IRINAS-194: 21-Sep-08
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 194
15 - 21 September 2008
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: IRC reviews option to resume activities
AFGHANISTAN: 1.8 million children to be immunised against polio on
Peace Day
BANGLADESH: Arsenic in food chain raises health concerns
CAMBODIA: Human trafficking likely to increase
KYRGYZSTAN: Melting glaciers threaten livelihoods
MYANMAR: Health of cyclone-affected children improves
MYANMAR: Poor roads hamper cyclone recovery
NEPAL: Thousands of Indians seek refuge from floods
NEPAL: Stronger child protection needed for flood-displaced
PAKISTAN: Swat conflict takes toll on girls' education
PAKISTAN: School collapse underscores risks from dilapidated structures
PHILIPPINES: No respite for displaced in Mindanao
PHILIPPINES: Trafficking issues "not taken seriously"
SRI LANKA: UN completes relocation from Tamil Tiger areas
THAILAND: Flash floods continue to batter farmlands
VIETNAM: Exploring local initiatives to confront climate change
AFGHANISTAN: IRC reviews option to resume activities
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) says it is still "reviewing and
analysing" the security situation before deciding whether to resume
activities in Afghanistan.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80351
AFGHANISTAN: 1.8 million children to be immunised against polio on Peace
Day
The Ministry of Public Health, backed by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
and the World Health Organisation (WHO), is planning to immunise 1.8
million under-five children and newborns against poliovirus in the seven
highly insecure provinces of Afghanistan on peace days, 21-23 September.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80451
BANGLADESH: Arsenic in food chain raises health concerns
A high concentration of arsenic in the water and soil is infiltrating
Bangladesh's food chain, raising serious health concerns for millions of
residents, specialists warn.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80476
CAMBODIA: Human trafficking likely to increase
Trafficking in Cambodia is set to rise with the sharp increase in food
and fuel prices, according to humanitarian workers. According to the UN,
men, women and children are susceptible to trafficking, with some
trafficked inside the country and others sent abroad - mostly for labour
exploitation.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80427
KYRGYZSTAN: Melting glaciers threaten livelihoods
The number of glaciers in Kyrgyzstan has dropped by 15 percent over the
past 30 years, according to Kyrgyz environmental experts, because of
climate change.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80420
MYANMAR: Health of cyclone-affected children improves
The health of children under five in cyclone-affected Myanmar is
improving, say specialists, despite huge challenges.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80405
MYANMAR: Poor roads hamper cyclone recovery
Bad roads continue to restrict the delivery of much-needed relief and
recovery supplies to survivors of Cyclone Nargis.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80485
NEPAL: Thousands of Indians seek refuge from floods
Thousands of Indians have taken refuge in Nepal's eastern Saptari
District, 300km southeast of the capital, Kathmandu, after heavy
flooding in Nepal and their home state of Bihar.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80358
NEPAL: Stronger child protection needed for flood-displaced
As the numbers of people displaced by floods living in camps in eastern
Nepal grow, aid workers are calling for stronger child protection
measures.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80462
PAKISTAN: Swat conflict takes toll on girls' education
Taimur Shah (not his real name), a primary school teacher in a village
near the town of Matta, in Swat, in the North West Frontier Province
(NWFP), was distraught when he saw the Government Girls' School of
Gwalerai burn down last month.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80396
PAKISTAN: School collapse underscores risks from dilapidated structures
On 11 September, four boys were killed when the wall of a school
building in Karachi collapsed. The Federal Government Public School had
been re-housed six years ago in a new structure but the dilapidated old
building had been left standing.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80454
PHILIPPINES: No respite for displaced in Mindanao
Guiaria Kiyaw fights back tears as she recounts her ordeal in an
overcrowded and filthy evacuation camp in a remote town on Mindanao
Island. She told IRIN her seven children had not had a decent meal for
nearly a month, and subsisted on relief aid that seemed to be
diminishing daily. All around her dirty children were lying on the cold
cement floor of a gymnasium, which has been subdivided into makeshift
shelters.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80457
PHILIPPINES: Trafficking issues "not taken seriously"
In June 2008, a lower court sentenced to life in prison a woman found
guilty of trafficking seven minors for sexual exploitation, becoming
only the 11th person convicted since the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act
became law in 2003. It was considered a landmark case by NGOs. For the
first time, a perpetrator was convicted even when the supposed sexual
exploitation of the victims was not "consummated", said Roland Pacis,
deputy executive director of Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF), which cares
for victims.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80481
SRI LANKA: UN completes relocation from Tamil Tiger areas
UN agencies have relocated all international staff and offices from
areas under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
in the north to areas under government control, with the last convoy of
UN vehicles leaving on 16 September.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80394
THAILAND: Flash floods continue to batter farmlands
Heavy downpours due to a low pressure trough and the south-western
monsoon in the past week have triggered more flash floods and inundated
villages and farmland in north and northeast Thailand.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80360
VIETNAM: Exploring local initiatives to confront climate change
About 30 villagers gathered in a communal hall in Quang Nam Province as
part of an initiative by the US non-governmental organisation, the East
Meets West Foundation, to assess how climate change was affecting rural
communities in the region.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80404[END]
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