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Sunday 7 August 2005


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IRIN Asia

Country Profiles

IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 174 covering the period 24 - 30 July 2004

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

CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Emergency aid reaches quake victims in Herat, Paktia
AFGHANISTAN: MSF pulls out of country
AFGHANISTAN: More assistance needed for deprived children
AFGHANISTAN: NGOs react to MSF pullout
AFGHANISTAN: UN condemns bomb attack on election workers
CENTRAL ASIA: HIV/AIDS remains a problem in Ferghana Valley
CENTRAL ASIA: ADB approves food fortification project for the region
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on gold mining in west
PAKISTAN: IOM launches counter trafficking course
TAJIKISTAN: TB on the rise, say health officials
TURKMENISTAN: Tajik refugees await naturalisation
UZBEKISTAN: Trust points work to bolster HIV prevention

AFGHANISTAN: Emergency aid reaches quake victims in Herat, Paktia

Emergency assistance, including food aid, has been sent to areas of southeastern Paktia province and western Herat province hit by recent earthquakes, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). "In Paktia, several hundred houses have been destroyed, mainly in three villages; while 150 houses have been destroyed in a village in Herat.”

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AFGHANISTAN: MSF pulls out of country

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced on Wednesday that it was withdrawing from Afghanistan after 24 years of independent humanitarian work following the government's failure to mount an adequate investigation into the killing of five MSF workers in June. "The framework for humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan is no longer possible." This situation had arisen in a context in which the US-led forces had constantly used humanitarian actions for their own military and political purposes.

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AFGHANISTAN: More assistance needed for deprived children

A new report on the situation of children in Afghanistan emphasises the need for more dramatic measures to be taken for those who are deprived of parental care. The report, issued on Saturday, was a joint undertaking by the Afghan Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and attempts to give a better understanding of the circumstances of children lacking parental care in the country.

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AFGHANISTAN: NGOs react to MSF pullout

NGOs working in Afghanistan have expressed concern over the pullout of the international NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), describing it as a worrying message to the international aid community. “It sends a very strong message to the humanitarian and international community.” NGOs understood MSF’s decision to leave and stated that they will continue with their programmes.

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AFGHANISTAN: UN condemns bomb attack on election workers

The United Nations has expressed outrage over Wednesday’s bomb attack against staff members of the Secretariat of the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) in Ghazni province, southwest of the Afghan capital Kabul, which killed one JEMB staff member and a voter who had come to register. Seven others were injured in the attack, including two seriously.

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CENTRAL ASIA: HIV/AIDS remains a problem in Ferghana Valley

HIV/AIDS remains a problem in the densely populated Ferghana Valley, shared by Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and home to some 10 million people. There are more than 700 HIV-infected people in the region. "The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in [the Uzbek part of] the Ferghana Valley is 273 cases and there is a tendency for growth."

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CENTRAL ASIA: ADB approves food fortification project for the region

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US $2 million grant for a food fortification project in Central Asia aimed at reducing iron deficiency anaemia and iodine deficiency disorders among children and women. While developing the capacity of the public and private sectors, the project serves to boost the supply of quality fortified food or food with vitamins and mineral supplements.

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CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

This week in Central Asia started with the departure of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)'s Ambassador to Turkmenistan, Paraschiva Badescu. The OSCE's Romanian envoy left the country on Saturday after the Turkmen government refused to extend her accreditation for another six months, the NewsCentralAsia web site reported.

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KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on gold mining in west

Fuelled by acute poverty and unemployment, hundreds of people in western Kyrgyzstan are making a living by digging gold, often endangering their lives as they seek their fortune in the fast mountain rivers. To the casual observer, the young and old people travelling along the small mountain rivers in the area might be fishermen. Local people say gold can be extracted along the Kasansai River as well as other tributaries of the Syr Darya river, a major water source in Central Asia, in the Chatkal mountains in western Kyrgyzstan.

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PAKISTAN: IOM launches counter trafficking course

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday launched Pakistan's first ever counter trafficking training course for senior law enforcement officials in the country, including those from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the agency mandated to check human trafficking. "What we want to do with this training is really acquaint law enforcement with the issues involved in trafficking and how to address the problem and protect the victims."

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TAJIKISTAN: TB on the rise, say health officials

The number of tuberculosis cases is on the rise in Tajikistan, with official statistics showing that the country now has more than 12,000 patients suffering from the disease. “This disease poses a serious problem, both to the state and society. According to the National TB Control Centre, between 2,800 and 3,500 new cases of TB are registered each year in Tajikistan, and this trend continues to go upward."

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TURKMENISTAN: Tajik refugees await naturalisation

An hours drive eastwards from the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, you reach a settlement called Babadurmaz in the southern province of Akhal, where a community of 300 Tajik refugee families lives. They have long been settled and well integrated into Turkmen society but, as ethnic Turkmen, are still awaiting naturalisation. There are more than 14,000 Tajik refugees - mostly ethnic Turkmen - mainly living in Akhal, Lebap and Mary provinces.

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UZBEKISTAN: Trust points work to bolster HIV prevention

Since the beginning of 2004 there have been some 1,500 permanent clients among the 10 trust points now functioning in Tashkent. Operating under the HIV/AIDS prevention control project for high risk groups and youth in Tashkent entitled SOS project the trust points have succeeded in distributing nearly half a million needles and more than 28,000 condoms to their target groups.

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[ENDS]

Accessed	774
Theme(s)	Other

Other recent CENTRAL ASIA reports:

Weekly news wrap, 5/Aug/05

Weekly news wrap, 29/Jul/05

Weekly news wrap, 22/Jul/05

Weekly news wrap, 15/Jul/05

Weekly news wrap, 8/Jul/05

Other recent reports:

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 5/Aug/05

ASIA: IRIN-Asia Weekly Round-up 31 covering the period 30 July - 5 August 2005, 5/Aug/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 29/Jul/05

ASIA: IRIN-Asia Weekly Round-up 30 covering the period 23 - 29 July 2005, 29/Jul/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 22/Jul/05

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