ISLAMABAD, 17 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - Philanthropic organisations in Pakistan are calling on civil society to help channel charitable donations towards sustainable social development initiatives and so reduce the country's dependence on foreign aid. Full report

KABUL, 17 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - As Afghanistan’s Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme entered its second year in early November, over 20,000 of approximately 60,000 Afghan militia forces (AMF) have been disbanded and reintegrated into civilian life. Full report

BISHKEK, 16 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - “I have to find money to give to my teacher, my father cannot understand that I have to pay,? Aziz, a 16-year-old schoolboy, told IRIN in the Alamedin district of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. Full report

DUSHANBE, 16 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - The Tajik tax police have impounded copies of the independent weekly Ruzi Nav printed abroad, Rajabi Mirzo, editor of the newspaper, told IRIN in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe on Tuesday. Full report

MAIMANA, 16 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - Sitting around a table with their burqas (top to bottom covering veil) on chairs, Arefa Zareh, a school teacher and her fellow women were preparing to broadcast the first trial programme of Quyash (the Sun), a newly established local women's radio station in the northern city of Maimana. Full report

NARYN, 15 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - Health officials in the central Kyrgyz province of Naryn say that the high prevalence of anaemia among women of child-bearing age in the area could result in a weakening of the national gene pool, citing poverty as the main cause of the problem.Full report

ANKARA, 15 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - A seminar to train Turkmen and Afghan customs officials on how to detect chemical precursors to help reduce drug trade in Central Asia is being held in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, thanks to a joint initiative by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UK government. Full report

TERMEZ, 15 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - Khosiyat Khojakulova is an elementary school teacher in the southern Uzbek city of Termez, capital of the Surkhandarya province. Like many other teachers in the region, she is trying hard to make a living. Full report

ISLAMABAD, 12 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - A new arid farming initiative has been launched to assist rural communities in drought-hit areas of Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan. Full report

ANKARA, 12 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - This week in Central Asia saw signs that some countries are cracking down on human trafficking in the region. In Tajikistan, a city court in the capital, Dushanbe, sentenced a group of people involved in human trafficking, the Iranian media reported on Monday. Three women were sentenced to up to 14 years in prison. Full report

TURKMENISTAN: Interview with US Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson

AFGHANISTAN: Interview with UK minister on Afghan opium poppy campaign

AFGHANISTAN: Interview with Mr Mirwais Yasini, head of the Counter Narcotics Directorate (CND)

UZBEKISTAN: Focus on child labour in southern cotton sector

AFGHANISTAN: Focus on presidential poll