IRIN-Asia Weekly Round-up 16 covering the period 16 - 22 April 2005
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: National iodine campaign
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: UNHCR to close more camps in Pakistan
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on post-Akayev Russian exodus
NEPAL: Interview with Dennis McNamara, UN internal displacement special adviser
NEPAL: Tuberculosis still a public health menace
PAKISTAN: Water deficiency remains key issue
PAKISTAN: Afghan delegation encouraging repatriation
PAKISTAN: Prison conditions for juveniles set to improve
PAKISTAN: Hijra community seeks HIV awareness
TAJIKISTAN: Reaction to OSCE urging more democracy
TAJIKISTAN: Donors meet to discuss landmines
UZBEKISTAN: Focus on cancer prevalence in the Ferghana Valley
UZBEKISTAN: Activists call for release of journalist
AFGHANISTAN: National iodine campaign
A nationwide multi-media campaign was launched on Tuesday calling on Afghan families to use iodised salt, following new findings which indicate that Afghanistan is facing a high prevalence of iodine-deficiency disorders, including goitre, stunted physical growth and mental retardation. The campaign is using radio and television spots, posters and banners and point-of-sale information leaflets that will show consumers the benefits of consuming iodised salt.
Full report
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: UNHCR to close more camps in Pakistan
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is planning to close some of the camps housing Afghan refugees in parts of Pakistan's two western provinces of Balochistan and North West Frontier Province (NWFP), which border Afghanistan. "The exact schedule has yet to be finalised. However, the [refugee] camps located in the western tribal region along NWFP and also those in Chagai district of Balochistan would be closed or consolidated in the next two months," Jack Redden, a UNHCR spokesman, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
Full report
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
Human rights dominated the news in Central Asia this week when a coalition of rights groups in Europe and Central Asia called for a regional death penalty-free zone on Wednesday. In an open letter, the coalition urged all regional countries retaining the death penalty to follow the recommendations of a resolution by the United Nations Commission on Human Right (UNHRC) calling for a moratorium on executions and the observance of international safeguards in death penalty cases.
Full report
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on post-Akayev Russian exodus
After the revolution which toppled the regime of Askar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan on 24 March, Russians and some other ethnic minority groups are leaving the country in larger numbers. The main reasons given are the unstable social, political and economic situation, uncertainty about the country's future and the fear of a possible civil war.
Full report
NEPAL: Interview with Dennis McNamara, UN internal displacement special adviser
Dennis McNamara, Special Adviser to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator on Internal Displacement, is on a seven-day visit with other UN officials to Nepal to assess the situation of internal displacement in the country and to enhance national and international protection of those forced to leave their homes due to the ongoing Maoist insurgency and widespread poverty in the Himalayan kingdom.
Full report
NEPAL: Tuberculosis still a public health menace
As one of Nepal’s worst health problems, tuberculosis (TB) kills between 5,000-7,000 Nepalis every year, according to Ministry of Health. The ongoing insurgency against Maoist separatists has made effective treatment and prevention of the disease problematic, but has not deterred national anti-TB programmes, health workers say. Despite this, health experts say that the TB mortality rate would be much higher if not for the National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) run by the government’s National Tuberculosis Centre (NTC), with technical and financial assistance from a consortium of international health agencies.
Full report
PAKISTAN: Water deficiency remains key issue
With the country fast heading towards a water-deficient status, experts at a workshop in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, this week emphasised the need to educate the public about the natural water shortages and efficient management of available water both for household and irrigation purposes. "The awareness of end-users [of water] is critical at the moment since they have to face the fallout. At the same time, an integrated and sustainable approach at the institutional level is required to efficiently manage the available water resources to cope with future challenges," Dr Shahid Ahmed, director of water resources directorate of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), told IRIN in Islamabad.
Full report
PAKISTAN: Afghan delegation encouraging repatriation
A delegation of the Afghan Return Commission Working Group (RCWG) has been visiting Afghan refugees of Turkmen origin in the Pakistani city of Attock in Punjab province, some 80 km northeast of the capital, Islamabad, to hear their concerns about repatriation. The RCWG, a government body, was formed three years ago to help remove obstacles in the way of repatriation of the millions of Afghans living in neighbouring countries.
Full report
PAKISTAN: Prison conditions for juveniles set to improve
Pakistan's leading child rights organisation has started renovation work at the main juvenile prison facility in the provincial capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Peshawar. The physical condition of almost all 22 jails in the province is grim, a rights activist told IRIN, with little renovation work having been carried out in more than half a century in most cases.
Full report
PAKISTAN: Hijra community seeks HIV awareness
For members of Pakistan's eunuch-transvestite, or Hijra community, open discussion about HIV/AIDS prevention remains a closed book. Cultural descendents of the court of eunuchs of the Mughal Empire (1526-1858), most Hijra today earn their living as prostitutes, beggars or dancers. "Our customers aren't interested in such things. They're interested in sex!" Sheila, a 30-something Hijra working the back streets of Lahore's red light Hira Mundi district, told IRIN laughingly.
Full report
TAJIKISTAN: Reaction to OSCE urging more democracy
A call by Dmitrij Rupel, the head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Tuesday to improve the electoral process and promote free media in Tajikistan has drawn mixed reaction from the government, opposition and civic groups in the country. Shokirjon Khakimov, deputy head of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan (SDPT), one of the main opposition groups, welcomed the call by Europe's largest security body. “The head of the OSCE raised real issues present in Tajik society, particularly those related to the implementation of Tajikistan's commitments to the OSCE,” Khakimov told IRIN in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on Wednesday.
Full report
TAJIKISTAN: Donors meet to discuss landmines
Landmines continue to remain a source of concern in Tajikistan, particularly in the north, with the number of mine victims in the area increasing over the past few months, according to mine action officials. "The issue of landmines remains complicated, particularly on the Uzbek border in the north," Jonmakhmad Rajabov, head of the Tajik Mine Action Centre (TMAC), told IRIN in the capital, Dushanbe, on Thursday.
Full report
UZBEKISTAN: Focus on cancer prevalence in the Ferghana Valley
Sultanbai Tukhliev, a resident of the Altyaryk district in the eastern Uzbek province of Ferghana, suffers from cancer of the kidney. Currently undergoing medical treatment at the provincial cancer hospital, Sultanbai told IRIN that he became aware of his disease rather late. "First I paid no attention to my poor health and only when I was seriously ill, did I go to see the doctor. I was taken to the Altyaryk district hospital, but I did not feel any better there," he said.
Full report
UZBEKISTAN: Activists call for release of journalist
A campaign calling for the release of Uzbek journalist Sabirjon Yakubov is gaining momentum following what activists refer to as trumped up charges against him earlier this month. "We are calling for his immediate release and due process of law," Pascale Bonnamour, head of the Europe desk for Reporters Without Borders (RSF) told IRIN from Paris on Wednesday, noting their organisation's concern for the young journalist's safety while in jail.
Full report
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