ISLAMABAD, 4 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - Higher than average winter rainfall has pulled Pakistan out of drought conditions which had plagued the country for seven years. The drought caused a water shortage of up to 50 percent last year, according to the country's leading water authority. "The water supply is satisfactory now. We have enough water for summer cultivation. Besides, we will be able to carry some over in our reservoirs for the coming winter’s agricultural requirements," Muhammad Khalid Idrees Rana, a research officer at the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), told IRIN in the capital Islamabad, on Monday. Full report

ISLAMABAD, 23 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - If natural low water supply, high population growth and inappropriate management are not rapidly addressed, Pakistan could become a water-deficient country in the next five years, water experts said at a gathering in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday.Full report

BARDIYA, 21 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - In July 2000 Nepal's government made a historic move to outlaw the 'Kamiaya' bonded labour system, which was akin to slavery. Kaliram Tharu breathed a sigh of relief that his family of Kamaiyas had been finally freed from bondage to his landlord and debilitating debts. The law has been in operation for five years but the situation hasn’t improved and many still suffer.Full report

KATHMANDU, 16 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Since King Gyanendra took direct control of the country on 1 February, Nepal has seen a series of high-level visits from international humanitarian and human rights bodies, who are concerned about the impact the current state of emergency is having on the population. The Delegate General for Asia and Pacific at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Reto Meister, was recently in the capital Kathmandu. During his short visit, he was able to meet King Gyanendra and other senior state officials. Just before his departure, Meister spoke to IRIN.Full report

KALIKOT, 8 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Fears are growing that food insecurity is set to worsen in Karnali, which lies 400 km northwest of the capital Kathmandu and is Nepal’s least developed zone. Full report

QUETTA, 4 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Government agencies and relief agencies are still trying to get emergency assistance to thousands of isolated communities in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan. In the first two weeks of February, persistent heavy rain and snowfall severely affected about 150,000 people in the northern upland district of Toba Kakar in Pishin and Toba Achakzai in the Qilla Abdullah district of the poverty-stricken province. Full report

ISLAMABAD, 16 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Flood-hit areas of Pakistan's southern coastal district of Gawadar in Balochistan province might face a shortage of food and other daily supplies if a damaged road link to the area is not repaired in the next couple of days, officials told IRIN on Wednesday. Full report

NANGAHAR, 10 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - The streets and bazaar in Khogyani, a town in the eastern province of Nangarhar, are empty these days. Scattered groups of young men idle away the hours playing cards while others stare into space outside their mud-brick houses. Full report

TUYA-MOYUN, 9 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Spring comes early in the Tuya-Moyun valley in southern Kyrgyzstan. Crops are already being sown by late February. With just a couple of weeks now until sowing starts, Ilyas Davlaev, a 38-year-old farmer from the Aravan district of the southern Osh province, is already concerned about this year's harvest. Full report

BARG-E-MATAL, 8 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - Nurestan is one of Afghanistan's most isolated and poverty-stricken provinces. The presidential election, foreign aid and the optimism of Kabul seem a world away. Just getting there from the capital in winter requires stamina, commitment and a degree of luck. It's a two day drive from the eastern province of Nangarhar through snow capped mountains and several hours on foot battling through more than a metre of snow. Full report

NEPAL: Focus on former bonded labourers

NEPAL: Interview with ICRC Delegate General

PAKISTAN: Focus on relief aid to northern Balochistan

AFGHANISTAN: Focus on local efforts to reduce opium cultivation

AFGHANISTAN: Focus on the forgotten province of Nurestan