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Sunday 25 December 2005 |
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MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 31 for 15-21 July 2005[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]Key Humanitarian Developments in Iraq IRAQ: Iraqi women 'need to be represented in constitution' Aid organisations working in the Middle East have called for greater protection of women’s rights under the new constitution in Iraq, which is currently being drafted. Some 20 NGOs, from Jordan, the occupied Palestinian territories and Iraq, raised their concerns at an international conference in the Jordanian capital, Amman, this week. Full report IRAQ: Preventive measures taken on Syrian border against HIV Iraq’s Ministry of Health, in affiliation with the Ministry of Interior, is stepping up routine health checks at some international borders and carrying out compulsory HIV/AIDS tests on people entering the country. Tests are now being carried out on everyone that enters Iraq from Syria, in particular, to try and prevent the virus spreading inside the country. Full report IRAQ: Syllabus authorisation greeted with joy by students Graduate students from Iraqi universities have finally received permission from the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) to have work they have completed authenticated by officials. “Students, from now on, will have the right to get their syllabus officially authenticated. This will help in their future outside the country as well as facilitate acceptance in worldwide universities,? Salah Aliwi, a senior official in the MoHE, said. Full report IRAQ: Families returning to Karabila in need Nearly all residents from the town of Karabila, in Iraq’s western Anbar governorate, have returned, but are now in need of humanitarian assistance. They fled a heavy US-led attack on insurgents four weeks ago, aid agencies said. Some 65 percent of buildings in the town have been damaged following battles between US forces and insurgents, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS). Full report YEMEN: Sixteen reported dead in petrol price protests Tension was high in the Yemeni capital, Sana, on Thursday after 16 people were reportedly killed on Wednesday during street protests. Clashes took place between police and local people demonstrating against cuts in government petrol subsidies, which have doubled prices at the pump. Protests were held in four Yemeni cities, according to the Ministry of Interior. Full report JORDAN: NGOs call for emergency funds and transparency for Iraq NGOs working in Iraq have called on donors to establish emergency funds that can be disbursed quickly to provide support for aid workers in dangerous conditions. This is in addition to calls for more transparency and accountability with regard to the trust fund. The call came in a statement issued by the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI) on Tuesday, as donors involved in the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) met at the Dead Sea resort in Jordan on 18-19 July to review the state of play in the reconstruction of Iraq. NGOs were not invited to the meeting, which was a source of disappointment to them. Full report JORDAN: Obstacles still faced in implementing child rights convention The Jordanian government still faces obstacles in fully implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, due to lack of finances, although some progress has been made, according to a new report. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), together with the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Ministry of Social Developments (MoSD) and National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA), launched Jordan's third report on Child Rights, covering the years 1998 to 2005, on Monday. Full report EGYPT: Focus on efforts to stop FGM Eight-year-old, Samar (not her real name) suffers from bouts of psychological trauma every time she remembers the day she was circumcised in a village in the southern Egyptian governorate of Luxor. The girl said that the practice, carried out without anaesthetic, caused her terrible physical pain, which words could not describe. Originally from Aswan in southern Egypt, where female genital mutilation (FGM) is widely practised, Samar's mother took her to Luxor against her father's will. He did not want his daughter to be circumcised. Full report IRAN: Exploring alternatives to youth custody Iran and Britain shared ideas on the sentencing onf young offenders at a UNICEF-sponsored workshop in Tehran this month. Representatives from Iran's judiciary, police, social workers and academics met David Padley, a British police inspector and policy adviser to the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales, to discuss ways in which Iran might reduce its youth custody rates. Full report [ENDS]
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