CENTRAL ASIA: IRIN-Asia Weekly Round-up 103 covering the
period 16 – 22 December 2006
22 Dec 2006 18:09:35 GMT Source: IRIN
ANKARA, 22 December (IRIN) - CONTENTS: AFGHANISTAN: Government warns of possible poppy crop spraying
AFGHANISTAN:
Kandahar residents support UN call for NATO to do more to avoid civilian casualties
AFGHANISTAN: Communist era mass grave discovered hightlights need for post-war justice
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news
wrap
NEPAL: Ending impunity should be taken seriously by the government - UN
NEPAL: UN arms monitors and electoral advisors to be deployed
NEPAL: Maternal mortality is silent killer
PAKISTAN: Quake
offers a window of opportunity for women empowerment
PAKISTAN: Bid to restore quake-hit regional government under way
PAKISTAN: Pollution plunges Lahore into twilight zone
PAKISTAN: Afghan
registration hits 1 million
PAKISTAN: Girls' schools face growing threat in NWFP
PAKISTAN: Boost to winter access in Pakistan quake zone
PAKISTAN: Rain brings quake survivors south once moreAFGHANISTAN: Government warns of possible poppy crop sprayingIn a bid to curb poppy cultivation, the government of Afghanistan has warned farmers that it could spray poppy fields if other ways are
not successful. This year, only 10 percent of the total 165,000 ha under cultivation was eradicated, while the total area planted was up 59 percent compared to 2005. The impoverished Central Asian
state produces more than 90 percent of the world opium, according to Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN).http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56774 and SelectRegion=Asia and
SelectCountry=AFGHANISTANAFGHANISTAN: Kandahar residents support UN call for NATO to do more to avoid civilian casualtiesKandahar residents have welcomed a United Nations (UN) report into the
killing of civilians by British soldiers earlier this month and have called on NATO to treat the report seriously. In the report, released on Monday, the UN called on NATO to take strict measures to
avoid further civilian deaths and to create a mechanism for compensation of civilian victims of NATO-led military actions.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56801 and SelectRegion=Asia and
SelectCountry=AFGHANISTANAFGHANISTAN: Communist era mass grave discovered hightlights need for post-war justiceSome 2,000 bodies are believed to have been dumped in a recently unearthed
communist-era mass grave in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, officials said on Thursday. The mass grave was unearthed one day earlier close to the communist era's most notorious prison Poli Charkhi on the
eastern outskirts of the capital. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56822 and SelectRegion=Asia and SelectCountry=AFGHANISTANCENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrapThis week in Central Asia,
the passing of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov dominated the news following his death by cardiac arrest early on Thursday, ending what many viewed as one of the most authoritarian regimes ever.
Niyazov, 66, who had ruled Turkmenistan with an iron fist following the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991 had little tolerance for dissent and had long been criticised by human rights groups
around the world.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56829 and SelectRegion=Asia and SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIANEPAL: Ending impunity should be taken seriously by the government - UNThe
Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal has expressed serious concerns over the lack of effective measures to address impunity in the country. "There is still an
opportunity for the government to demonstrate to the Nepalese people and the international community that it is serious about ending impunity by holding human rights violators accountable for their
actions," said Lena Sundh, head of OHCHR-Nepal.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56816 and SelectRegion=Asia and SelectCountry=NEPALNEPAL: UN arms monitors and electoral advisors to be
deployedThe United Nations (UN) will deploy 35 monitors of arms and armies in the Himalayan nation in 10 days' time to support the process of managing former Maoist rebel soldiers and weapons, Ian
Martin, personal representative to the UN Secretary-General in Nepal, said on Sunday. The management of Maoist arms and armies was one of the most contentious agendas in the comprehensive peace
agreement between the Maoist rebels and the interim government of seven national parties signed in November.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56776 and SelectRegion=Asia and
SelectCountry=NEPALNEPAL: Maternal mortality is silent killerNepal is failing to take measures to tackle extremely high levels of maternal mortality, with the issue largely neglected by the
authorities, according to a new global World Disaster Report by the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC). Pregnancy-related complications kill 5,000 to 6,000 Nepalese women and girls
every year, especially in the villages, due to a lack of skilled birth attendants (SBAs) and well-equipped health centres with emergency obstetric care.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56802 and SelectRegion=Asia and SelectCountry=NEPALPAKISTAN: Quake offers a window of opportunity for women empowermentPakistan's earthquake of October
2005, the worst natural disaster in the country's history, served as a window of opportunity for empowering Pakistani women and enabling them to take an active role in building disaster-resilient
communities, noted this year's World Disasters Report of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56828 and
SelectRegion=Asia and SelectCountry=PAKISTANPAKISTAN: Bid to restore quake-hit regional government under wayThe massive challenge of restoring local government capacity across the quake zone of
northern Pakistan is gathering momentum – thanks to a multi-million-dollar international initiative. Hundreds of government buildings were severely damaged or destroyed when last year's disaster
tore through the country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistani-administered Kashmir crippling administration infrastructure in an area already poorly resourced.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56823 and SelectRegion=Asia and SelectCountry=PAKISTANPAKISTAN: Pollution plunges Lahore into twilight zoneMuch like the south or north poles, the
western Pakistani city of Lahore remains in what looks like perpetual twilight through much of its winter.
But the phenomena, which means street lights remain surreally switched on through much of the
morning and drivers along motorways use headlamps or fog lights at all times, is caused in this case not by the position of the sun but by pollution. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56813 and SelectRegion=Asia and SelectCountry=PAKISTANPAKISTAN: Afghan registration hits 1 millionOver a million Afghans living in Pakistan have been
registered in a drive to provide them with official identification for a three-year period, UN officials said on Tuesday. After an initial slow start in mid-October, the registration campaign has
accelerated in recent weeks, with over 1,030,000 Afghans having registered with Pakistani authorities.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56791 and SelectRegion=Asia and
SelectCountry=PAKISTANPAKISTAN: Girls' schools face growing threat in NWFPIt is not uncommon to hear the sound of gunfire in the small town of Darra Adam Khel, 42 miles south of Peshawar, the
provincial capital of Pakistan's rugged North West Frontier Province (NWFP). In fact, a deafening volley sounds out every few minutes in the town's dusty main bazaars, as traders or buyers test out
the weapons on sale at the many shops lined along the market.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56800 and SelectRegion=Asia and SelectCountry=PAKISTANPAKISTAN: Boost to winter access in
Pakistan quake zoneAdditional cash has been made available by the Pakistani government to maintain road access across the hazardous quake zone this winter, following a concerted lobby by the
international aid community. Anwar Ul Haq, the United Nation's Area Coordinator for North West Frontier Province (NWFP), welcomed the move and said it was critical that access to quake-hit communities
be maintained.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56778 and SelectRegion=Asia and SelectCountry=PAKISTANPAKISTAN: Rain brings quake survivors south once moreFor the past week, Mansoor
Alam, 32, a cook working at a private home in the Punjab capital Lahore, has been visiting other relatives scattered across the city. He is seeking space to house the families of his two brothers, who
travelled down from their village near Muzaffarabad, the quake-ravaged capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, a short while ago.http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56777 and
SelectRegion=Asia and SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
