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Monday 19 February 2007


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IRIN Asia

Country Profile

IRIN-ASIA Weekly Round-up 111, 12 - 18 February 2007

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Inadequate care for trauma victims
AFGHANISTAN: Maternal mortality in northeastern Afghanistan among worst in world
AFGHANISTAN: Civilians flee their homes in restive south
KAZAKHSTAN: Flooding displaces more than 1,000 in south
NEPAL: Terai villagers fear return of violence
PAKISTAN: Tented schools still dominate in quake area
PAKISTAN: ICRC to continue operations despite attack
PAKISTAN: Afghans to leave within three years
PAKISTAN: Polio health official killed in a bomb blast
TURKMENISTAN: President sworn in amid cautious hope for change

AFGHANISTAN: Inadequate care for trauma victims

The psychological fallout from conflict in Afghanistan over the past three decades continues to be neglected. The government estimates that up to 85 percent of the population may be suffering from varying degrees of trauma. The World Health Organization (WHO) officials say that half the population has some psychological problems or disorders. Often invisible and largely unquantifiable, mental health has been pushed to the background while agencies and health personnel focus on the more visible physical ailments. The monetary allocation for mental health in 2004 was less than 3.5 percent of the overall health budget.

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AFGHANISTAN: Maternal mortality in northeastern Afghanistan among worst in world

With 6,500 maternal deaths per every 100,000 live births, Afghanistan's northeastern Badakshan province has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. In the rugged mountainous area there is little or no access to healthcare and it takes between four and six days on horse-back or by yak to reach the nearest medical facility, provided bad weather has not blocked the roads. Villagers say if children or women get sick, they either heal themselves or die.

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AFGHANISTAN: Civilians flee their homes in restive south

More than 4,000 families fled their homes in the Kajaki district of the southern Helmand province due to recent fighting between NATO forces and alleged Taliban insurgents, the Afghan independent Pajhwok news website reported on 17 February. Around 1,500 had taken refuge in the provincial capital of Lashkargah, while the rest migrated to the districts, the report said, quoting tribal elders.

Provincial governor Asadollah Wafa conceded that there was a large scale migration from Kajaki. Local officials said that they had extended emergency assistance to those displaced from Musa Qala and other areas of the province and would soon help the people who left Kajaki.

KAZAKHSTAN: Flooding displaces more than 1,000 in south

Flooding in southern Kazakhstan has displaced more than 1,000 people after the Syrdarya River burst its banks in several places. There are no reports of casualties, but houses along the riverbank have been flooded, the Ministry of Emergencies (MOE) reported on 13 Ferbruary.

Flooding has been a major natural hazard in southern Kazakhstan over the past few years. While there was no serious flooding in 2006, the flooding of 550 sq km of land in 2005 led to the evacuation of more than 500 people from areas around the Syrdarya River and the previous year, 2,000 people were evacuated after 600 sq km of land was flooded.

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NEPAL: Terai villagers fear return of violence

With only one day to go before a 10-day deadline set by Madhesi leaders for the government to meet their demands expires, community leaders and aid agencies are worried that violence will erupt again in the eastern part of Nepal’s southern Terai region.

Katahari village, with a population of 6,000, was one of the most severely affected areas in the eastern Terai, where villagers said they were arrested and beaten by the police for participating in the protests. Many said they were just spectators and some were forced to join in the protests by the Madhesi leaders. Violence in the eastern Terai from 17 January to 8 February left 31 dead and thousands more injured. The Madhesi demand better rights and representation in the government.

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PAKISTAN: Tented schools still dominate in quake area

The earthquake that killled more than 80,000 people in Pakistan in October 2005 also damaged or destroyed 10,000 schools. While aid agencies have set up thousands of tented schools to cope, much more work is needed to clear rubble and rebuild education facilities. More than 80,000 people were killed, tens of thousands maimed or injured, while more than three million people were rendered homeless after the quake ripped through parts of northern Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

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PAKISTAN: ICRC to continue operations despite attack

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on 12 February confirmed that the agency would continue its work in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), having briefly suspending operations after an attack on its office on 10 February.

On 5 February, a grenade was thrown at a compound of the US-based charity Save the Children in NWFP's quake-affected Batagram district, injuring two Pakistani employees. NWFP was badly affected by the October 2005 earthquake. Many villages and towns were completely wiped out in the area. The province also has a high population of Afghan refugees who rely on aid agencies.

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PAKISTAN: Afghans to leave within three years

A nationwide campaign to register all Afghan refugees living in Pakistan in an effort to validate their stay in exile concluded on 15 February. More than 2 million Afghans were registered during the drive. The US $6 million exercise aimed to provide millions of Afghan refugees with official identification valid for a three-year period.

All registered Afghans will have to leave Pakistan by 2009, Nayar Agha, head of the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR), told IRIN. As for those who failed to register with Pakistani authorities, Agha noted that they have a grace period of until 15 April to leave the country. More than 2.8 million Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland from Pakistan since 2002 under a UN Refugee Agency-assisted voluntary repatriation programme.

PAKISTAN: Polio health official killed in a bomb blast

A senior health official was killed and three guards injured in a bomb blast in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan, the BBC reported on 16 February. The dead man, Dr Abdul Ghani Khan, played a key role in a polio immunisation drive in the Bajaur tribal region. Dr Khan was returning from a meeting with tribal elders to persuade them to end their opposition to the campaign. It was not clear if he was targeted because of his work to eradicate polio in the area, the report said.

The border area is known for its conservatism and the government is facing resistance from some tribes in its campaign to vaccinate children against polio. Some tribal leaders say the vaccine is a part of a US conspiracy to reduce fertility and reproduction rates. Pakistani health officials say immunisation refusals have left at least 160,000 children vulnerable to polio. In 2006, the Pakistani health ministry reported 39 cases of polio, 15 of them in the adjacent NWFP. This was a 30 percent increase on 2005. Pakistan is one of four polio endemic countries in the world.

TURKMENISTAN: President sworn in amid cautious hope for change

A new Turkmen president has been sworn into office after winning the country’s first presidential elections in 15 years with a resounding 89 percent of the vote. Observers are watching the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, to see if Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov will honour his campaign pledges of social reform, and they question whether the new leader will bring political liberalisation to this tightly controlled country. This poll was Turkmenistan’s first multi-candidate election, with Berdymukhammedov beating five challengers. It was also the first time the country has seen traditional campaigning.

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[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Gender issues

Other recent ASIA reports:

IRIN-ASIA Weekly Round-up 110, 05 - 11 February 2007, 11/Feb/07

IRIN-ASIA Weekly Round-up 109, 29 January – 04 February 2007 , 5/Feb/07

IRIN-ASIA Weekly Round-up 108 22-28 January 2007, 28/Jan/07

Bird flu ‘under control’, but increased alert for lunar New Year, 24/Jan/07

IRIN-Asia Weekly Round-up 107 15-21 January 2007, 22/Jan/07

Related reports

Afghanistan: Maternal mortality in northeastern Afghanistan among worst in world, 16/Feb/07

Pakistan: Commercial sex workers face HIV threat, 2/Feb/07

Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan: Etibor, 38, Suratash: "I carry up to 1,000 kg through the border a day" , 30/Jan/07

ASIA: IRIN-ASIA Weekly Round-up 108 22-28 January 2007, 28/Jan/07

NEPAL: Neglect over the issue of female combatants in the arms management process, 25/Dec/06

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