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CENTRAL ASIA: IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 192 covering the period 27 November - 3 December 2004 - OCHA IRIN

Thursday 13 January 2005


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IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 192 covering the period 27 November - 3 December 2004

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

CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Interview with UN drug agency on opium proliferation
AFGHANISTAN: Struggle to raise HIV awareness as first official AIDS-related deaths reported
AFGHANISTAN: People living with disabilities call for integration
CENTRAL ASIA: Regional meeting to raise disaster awareness
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KAZAKHSTAN: Interview on Almaty earthquake preparedness
KAZAKHSTAN: Migration conference opens in Almaty
KAZAKHSTAN: Interview with UN Resident Coordinator, Yuriko Shoji
KYRGYZSTAN: Rural people tackle diseases of poverty
KYRGYZSTAN: Marking World AIDS Day
KYRGYZSTAN: Rights activists welcome reappearance of missing colleague
PAKISTAN: Pakistan hosts first ever conference on volunteering
PAKISTAN: First Asia-Pacific Conference on HIV/AIDS and women
PAKISTAN: Dense fog disrupts life in upper Punjab
PAKISTAN: Youth learning skills to prevent HIV/AIDS
PAKISTAN: Life term for blasphemous minority sect member
TAJIKISTAN: Country tops Central Asia infant mortality rate
UZBEKISTAN: Protesters picket US Embassy to call for election boycott
UZBEKISTAN: Thousands of prisoners to be released under amnesty

AFGHANISTAN: Interview with UN drug agency on opium proliferation

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has increased by more than 60 percent and is set to reach an unprecedented 131,000 hectares in 2005, according to a new survey carried out by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The agency's annual survey found that poppy cultivation has spread to all 32 provinces of the country. Doris Buddenberg, the head of UNODC in Afghanistan, told IRIN that a lack of alternative livelihoods in rural areas was continuing to drive the cultivation of poppy and production of opium.

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AFGHANISTAN: Struggle to raise HIV awareness as first official AIDS-related deaths reported

Anisa Wahab, a well-known Afghan actress, presented a drama on the lack of HIV/AIDS awareness in Afghan families, as officials, aid workers and UN agency representatives gathered in the capital Kabul, to mark World AIDS Day on Wednesday. “I have no place in society, everyone curses me, everyone is scared of me,” Wahab cried out as she assumed the character of an HIV-positive Afghan returnee.

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AFGHANISTAN: People living with disabilities call for integration

The disabled in Afghanistan have contributions to make but they need more support to help them integrate into society. This was the call from disabled groups on Thursday as the country observed the International Day of Disabled Persons. According to the Afghan Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled the country has more than 1 million people living with various levels of disability - the result of decades of devastating conflict and the lack of a health infrastructure.

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CENTRAL ASIA: Regional meeting to raise disaster awareness

A regional conference on disaster preparedness in Central Asia is under way in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, aimed at finding ways to mitigate the risks and ensuring regional cooperation. "The aim of the meeting is to ensure political commitment from the Central Asian states on priority tasks with regard to reducing natural disaster risks in the region," Sirojiddin Mulloev, an emergency ministry spokesman, told IRIN from Dushanbe, on Wednesday.

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CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

This week in Central Asia the Uzbek media reported that over 30,000 people, of whom 9,900 were women, were living with HIV/AIDS in Uzbekistan as World AIDS Day was commemorated on Wednesday. In Tajikistan, the number of HIV-positive people may be around 4,000, the Tajik Asia-Plus news agency reported on Thursday, citing William Paton, UN resident coordinator in the country.

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KAZAKHSTAN: Interview on Almaty earthquake preparedness

The Kazakh commercial capital Almaty, which was last destroyed by earthquakes in 1887 and 1911, is likely to suffer a major quake in the next 10 to 15 years, experts say. In an interview with IRIN, the deputy Director of Seismology at the National Academy of Sciences, Askar Ospanov, and Baurzhan Iskakov, the chief of local emergency services, outlined the dangers. But with sound preparation, loss of life and damage to buildings and infrastructure could be kept to a minimum, they say.

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KAZAKHSTAN: Migration conference opens in Almaty

A comprehensive conference on migration opened in the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty, on Tuesday, revealing a negative migration balance for Central Asia's largest state. "While most events have focused only on migration to and from Kazakhstan, this conference will show more aspects of migration," Elvira Pak, head of the office for the Fredrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES) Foundation in Almaty, which organized the event, told IRIN.

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KAZAKHSTAN: Interview with UN Resident Coordinator, Yuriko Shoji

Kazakhstan has made significant progress since gaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In an interview with IRIN in the former Kazakh capital of Almaty, newly appointed UN Resident Coordinator to the country, Yuriko Shoji, shared her insight into some of the many challenges facing Central Asia’s largest state, including poverty alleviation, democratic governance and the fight against HIV/AIDS.

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KYRGYZSTAN: Rural people tackle diseases of poverty

An unreliable state healthcare system led rural people in the central Kyrgyz province of Naryn three years ago to start local committees to tackle health problems. The practice, which began in Jumgal district, has now been replicated in almost every village in the province. The “Jumgal" model has evolved into a system enabling rural communities to act independently to improve their health. Communities decide on their health priorities and form Local Healthcare Committees (LHC) to coordinate action.

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KYRGYZSTAN: Marking World AIDS Day

United Nations agencies marked World AIDS Day on Wednesday by recognising the work of HIV/AIDS organisations in Kyrgyzstan through special awards. On the same day, the US Embassy in Bishkek donated medical equipment to the Kyrgyz Ministry of Health to help its work with people living with HIV/AIDS. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the official number of HIV cases has risen in the last four years 12 times faster than in the period 1987 to 2000.

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KYRGYZSTAN: Rights activists welcome reappearance of missing colleague

Civic activists in Kyrgyzstan are upbeat about the return of Tursunbek Akunov, a prominent human rights activist who went missing earlier this month, but are urging the authorities to thoroughly investigate the case. "We are very happy that our colleague is alive but his health still worries us," Edil Baysalov, head of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, a local NGO, told IRIN from the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.

Full report

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PAKISTAN: Pakistan hosts first ever conference on volunteering

To mark the International Volunteer Day (IVD) on 5 December, Pakistan is hosting the first ever international conference on volunteering. The theme of the three-day meeting is the 'Role of volunteers in helping to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)'. "This [conference] is an effort to recognise and streamline all the volunteer activities in our country," Ghani Marwat, director for the volunteers department at Pakistan's National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), told IRIN.

Full report

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PAKISTAN: First Asia-Pacific Conference on HIV/AIDS and women

Pakistan began hosting a three-day conference on Monday addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls in the Asia Pacific region. The National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), the health ministry and Amal Human Development Network (AHDN) - an NGO working on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness - have jointly organised the event with other development partners including UN agencies.

Full report

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PAKISTAN: Dense fog disrupts life in upper Punjab

Pakistan's National Meteorological Office predicted dense, foggy weather to continue for another 48 hours in the upper Punjab region on Monday, causing further disruption to road, rail and air mobility. At least 15 people have been reported killed in different parts of Punjab province over the past week since the fog set in, while dozens have been injured in traffic accidents due to poor visibility.

Full report

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PAKISTAN: Youth learning skills to prevent HIV/AIDS

On the sidelines of the first Asia/Pacific HIV/AIDS conference in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, where health experts and activists are sharing their best practices to deal with the world pandemic, another parallel youth-based activity to mark World AIDS Day is going on, hardly 10 minutes away from the main conference hall. Nearly 70 national and international young delegates have gathered there to share their HIV/AIDS-related concerns - the problems and the solutions.

Full report

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PAKISTAN: Life term for blasphemous minority sect member

A court in Pakistan on Tuesday handed down a life sentence and a fine of 10,000 rupees (US $167 dollars) to a man from the minority Ahmediya community for remarks deemed blasphemous to Islam. The man, Iqbal Ahmad, can appeal against the sentence to the high court within 30 days. Ahmad was arrested in March on a charge of blasphemy in the village of Samundari, some 250 km south of the capital, Islamabad, following a complaint by a village prayer leader, Zulfiqar.

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TAJIKISTAN: Country tops Central Asia infant mortality rate

Tajikistan has the highest rate of under five child mortality among the Central Asian states, with 78 deaths per 1000 live births, according to a survey by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "Nutrition-related issues and several prenatal diseases [contracted] during delivery are contributing to the high level of infant mortality," Sabir Kurbanov, UNICEF's health and nutrition adviser, told IRIN.

Full report

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UZBEKISTAN: Protesters picket US Embassy to call for election boycott

Rights and opposition groups gathered outside the US Embassy in the capital, Tashkent, on Wednesday, calling on the US government to support freedom of speech and democracy in this Central Asian state. The protesters say the Uzbek government has blocked the registration of genuine opposition candidates in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Full report

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UZBEKISTAN: Thousands of prisoners to be released under amnesty

Uzbekistan’s president, Islam Karimov, signed a decree on Thursday pardoning more than 5,000 prisoners, just a few days ahead of the 12th anniversary of Uzbek Constitution Day on 8 December. But rights groups say it does little for the many political and religious prisoners who have been jailed in recent years. Under the amnesty, 5,040 prisoners will be released and 8,000-9,000 prisoners will have their sentences reduced, Karimov said.

Full report

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[ENDS]

Other recent CENTRAL ASIA reports:

Weekly news wrap, 7/Jan/05

Soros Foundation to continue despite setbacks, 6/Jan/05

Chronology of key humanitarian developments in the region, 2004 - Part I, 4/Jan/05

Weekly news wrap, 31/Dec/04

IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 196 covering the period 25 - 31 December 2004, 31/Dec/04

Other recent reports:

ASIA: IRIN-Asia Weekly Round-up 1 covering the period 1 - 7 January 2005, 10/Jan/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 7/Jan/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Chronology of key humanitarian developments in the region, 2004 - Part I, 4/Jan/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 31/Dec/04

CENTRAL ASIA: IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 196 covering the period 25 - 31 December 2004, 31/Dec/04

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