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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 204
24 - 30 November 2008


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: WFP starts food aid deliveries to over five million people
AFGHANISTAN: Food insecurity may cause deaths this winter - government
BANGLADESH: Gender-based violence still rampant
MYANMAR: Cyclone widows struggle to survive
MYANMAR: Salt farmers battling to rebuild livelihoods
NEPAL: Clock ticking for earthquake preparedness
NEPAL: Domestic violence still common - activists
NEPAL: Remote mountain villagers pin hopes on herb nursery
PHILIPPINES: Law fails to stem domestic violence
PHILIPPINES: Women suffer most in Mindanao conflict
SRI LANKA: Violence against women on the rise
THAILAND: Disappearances in south remain a concern
THAILAND: Signing up to fight violence against women


AFGHANISTAN: WFP starts food aid deliveries to over five million people

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has started delivering food to over 
five million people affected by drought and high food prices. "WFP has 
started food distribution to provinces in the eastern and northern 
region," Stefano Porretti, WFP representative and country director in 
Afghanistan, told IRIN. The move follows a joint emergency appeal 
launched in July, and aims to provide an emergency safety-net. Some 
230,000 tonnes of mixed food items should be distributed by July 2009.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81624


AFGHANISTAN: Food insecurity may cause deaths this winter - government

More than 1.6 million under-five children and hundreds of thousands of 
vulnerable women are exposed to acute malnutrition and some could die 
this winter due to food insecurity and lack of medical care, the 
government has warned. "Around 1.6 million children under five and 
625,000 child-bearing-age women are at risk of dying this winter due to 
malnutrition," the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said in a statement 
(in English) on 25 November. These figures are significantly higher than 
the 550,000 under-five children and pregnant and lactating women 
considered "most vulnerable" in a joint emergency appeal by the 
government and aid agencies in July.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81692


BANGLADESH: Gender-based violence still rampant

Hundreds of thousands of women are the victims of domestic violence in 
Bangladesh each year, say activists, although most cases go unreported. 
A report by the Bangladesh Centre for Law and Mediation, a local NGO, 
cited local media as saying that in the first half of 2008, 179 women 
had been subjected to domestic violence. Of these, 112 wives were killed 
by their husbands in collusion with her in-laws, with 99 killed over 
dowry issues.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81654


MYANMAR: Salt farmers battling to rebuild livelihoods

Salt farmers across southern Myanmar are slowly returning, but still 
need assistance almost seven months after Cyclone Nargis struck, leaving 
close to 140,000 people dead or missing. The multi-million dollar 
industry plays a critical role in the local economy, which was 
devastated by the category four storm on 2 and 3 May. More than 9,712 
hectares or 80 percent of all salt fields in Myanmar's badly affected 
Ayeyarwady Delta were affected, according to the Post-Nargis Joint 
Assessment (PONJA).

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81689


MYANMAR: Cyclone widows struggle to survive

More than six months after losing her husband and her home to Cyclone 
Nargis, Yin Nwet, 37, is struggling to make ends meet. "I don't know how 
much longer we will have to rely on my brothers and their families," 
said the mother-of-three in the village of Chaukaintan in Pyapon 
Township, in the heart of the Ayeyarwady Delta. Her husband had 
supported the family with a small-scale fishing business. Now Yin Nwet 
has no income and relies on relatives.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81712


NEPAL: Clock ticking for earthquake preparedness

Kathmandu, one of the most seismically vulnerable cities in the world, 
is ill-prepared for the next big earthquake, experts warn. "The 
situation is quite scary if you put the realities in front of you. We 
are already too late," said disaster expert Amod Dixit, executive 
director of the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET), a 
local NGO working to raise earthquake awareness and preparedness. "We're 
all deeply concerned about the earthquake risks in the Kathmandu Valley. 
Unfortunately, the country isn't at all prepared for this calamity," UN 
Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Representative in Nepal Robert 
Piper told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81632


NEPAL: Domestic violence still common - activists

Married at the age of 12, Radha Neupane has been a victim of domestic 
violence for two decades. "I'm used to it now. What choice do I have?" 
asked Neupane who works as a maid in more than three houses, earning 
less than US$30 per month, to support her children. She gets absolutely 
no support from her alcoholic husband. "I have to survive for my 
children. They will be homeless if I leave my husband," the 32-year old 
told IRIN in Kathmandu, where incidents of domestic violence often go 
unreported.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81652


NEPAL: Remote mountain villagers pin hopes on herb nursery

Villagers in a remote mountainous settlement in Mugu District, 
central-western Nepal, are finding that the best way to nurture their 
future livelihoods is by establishing a herb nursery. But it is not your 
typical herb garden. The nursery - at a site called Ghattachaur and 
established by residents of Jhyari settlement in Pina Village 
Development Committee (equivalent to a sub-district) - includes 
medicinal and aromatic plants.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81684


PHILIPPINES: Law fails to stem domestic violence

Joy Cruz (not her real name) will never forget the abuse she suffered 
for 10 years at the hands of her husband. "I tried to fight back once. 
He just banged my head against the wall and choked me until I couldn't 
breathe any more," she said. Though she never filed a formal complaint 
against him, she finally decided to file for an annulment, the 
equivalent of a divorce in the Philippines, one of two countries in the 
world where divorce is illegal.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81668


PHILIPPINES: Women suffer most in Mindanao conflict

Women on the southern island of Mindanao are bearing the brunt of the 
separatist violence now in its fourth month. Mindanao has witnessed an 
escalation in fighting between government forces and the Moro Islamic 
Liberation Front (MILF) since 10 August. "I am very tired. When will it 
ever end?" asked Sumira Endosan, an evacuee in Datu Piang, North 
Cotabato Province. According to the latest figures offered by the 
National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), more than 300,000 people 
remain displaced because of the fighting.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81708


SRI LANKA: Violence against women on the rise

At least 60 percent of all women in Sri Lanka have experienced domestic 
violence, according to the Gender-Based Violence Forum (GBV Forum), a 
collective of UN and other international and local organisations. 
Specialists believe such abuse is on the increase in a country that 
scores well on most social issues such as education and healthcare. "The 
prevalence of gender-based violence is reported to be high and 
widespread, cutting across class, race, ethnicity and religion," Lene K 
Christiansen, the country representative for the UN Population Fund 
(UNFPA), said at the 25 November ceremony in Colombo to mark 
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81693


THAILAND: Disappearances in south remain a concern

Deaths and disappearances in Thailand's southern border area remain a 
concern for rights groups. According to the Working Group on Justice for 
Peace (WGJP), a Thai non-governmental organisation, at least four 
disappearances are known to have occurred in the south in 2007 and were 
confirmed this year. The human rights organisation has reported 93 
enforced disappearances nationwide between 1992 and 2008. The Thai 
government first acknowledged the issue on 18 March 2004, when Deputy 
Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh told parliament, "Villagers [in the 
southern border provinces] complained to me . they said more than 100 
people have been 'disappeared'".

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81630


THAILAND: Signing up to fight violence against women

Public support for the battle to eliminate violence against women in 
Thailand is growing, with more than three million people, both women and 
men, signing up to the UN Development Fund for Women's (UNIFEM) "Say no 
to violence against women" campaign. HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha, UNIFEM 
goodwill ambassador in Thailand, presented the signatures to UNIFEM's 
Regional Programme Director Jean D'Cunha at the weekend.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81685


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