HARGEISA, 22 October 2008 (IRIN) - Conflict, drought and economic hardships have led to an unprecedented increase in the number of street children in Hargeisa, capital of Somalia's self-declared independent republic of Somaliland, with government and aid agencies calling for urgent steps to stem the increase.

"Many of children on the streets of Hargeisa are from Mogadishu and other parts of south-central Somalia," Sahardid Mohamed Osman, child protection and advocacy officer for Comprehensive Community-based Rehabilitation Services (CCBRS), a local NGO, told IRIN.

Saleebaan Ismail Bulale, chairman of Hornwatch, a local human rights group, estimated there were 3,000-5,000 children on the streets of Hargeisa.

"There are no exact figures but that is our estimate and numbers seem to be increasing," Bulale told IRIN on 21 October.

Osman said the children fell into three categories; those who work to help their families and go home at night; those who sleep on the streets; and, those who move from town to town.

The reasons for the children being on the street vary, Osman added. Many of those from south-central Somalia were separated from their families on their way to Somaliland, while others end up on the streets due to poverty and violence at home, he said.

Shoe-shining and car-washing are the jobs of choice for most of the street boys in Hargeisa, while the girls mostly clean or sweep business premises or clean people's homes. Most beg, Osman said.

For the full article, please visit: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=81052

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http://www.iwpr.net/?p=bca&s=b&o=347254&apc_state=henh

17-Oct-08

Increasing demand for water is making it more likely that Uzbekistan will accept a regional arrangement where all the Central Asian states share in the costs of using the rivers that run through their territories, NBCentralAsia observers say.

At the October 10 meeting of heads of state of the Eurasian Economic Community, EurAsEC, leaders of the Central Asian states reached agreement that Uzbekistan should increase its supply of natural gas to Kyrgyzstan, while Kazakstan will ensure the Kyrgyz receive regular deliveries of oil.

The arrangement will start operating in the first quarter of 2009, and is designed to reduce Kyrgyzstan's need to generate hydroelectricity. This will allow it to store up more water in its reservoirs, which can then be let out over the spring and summer into the rivers which are crucial to Uzbek and Kazak agricultural irrigation schemes.

About 80 per cent of Central Asia's water resources come from mountainous parts of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The timing of their use of hydroelectricity has consistently placed them at odds with Kazakstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which need the water to be released later in the year.

...

In 2007, for example, farmers from eight of the 13 administrative regions of Uzbekistan were banned from sowing rice because of a shortage of water for this thirsty crop. This resulted in a smaller rice harvest, an unannounced ban on rice exports this year, and measures to create an "untouchable" reserve of wheat.

Water shortages also affect cotton, a key export item for Uzbekistan.

One economist in Tashkent predicts that the situation is bound to get more difficult over the next few years as climate change leads to increased demand for water and Uzbekistan's population continues to grow.

Other commentators agree, saying that under these changing circumstances, Tashkent is going to have to compromise and accept proposals by other Central Asian states to pay its share for water.

According to Eduard Poletaev, the editor-in-chief of the Mir Yevrazii political magazine in Kazakstan, "Uzbekistan will certainly behave emotionally and ambitiously towards its neighbours, but it is going to have to face the fact that the water only transits its territory, and the sources of that water are mainly outside its borders."