A new report by the international credit rating agency Standard & Poor's sheds an unflattering light on the banking systems of Central Asia. The report says Kazakhstan has the region's most advanced banking system and accounts for 5 percent of banking assets in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). But the report says the rest of Central Asia lags far behind due to the failure of governments to enact economic and regulatory reforms.
Kazakhstan's sunny skies and flat, wind-swept steppes make the country a promising land for solar and wind-based energy. In order to develop its solar potential, Kazakhstan last year launched its first solar energy project, in the southeastern Almaty region. Some 1,500 residents stand to benefit from the solar program, which was initially funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Canadian International Development Agency. Recently, the vast Central Asian republic launched its first large-scale project aimed at developing wind-based energy.
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany is noted for being the first sovereign state to abolish the death penalty, in 1786. Today, more than 130 countries have stopped executing prisoners in practice, and of those, around 80 have abolished capital punishment completely. Even in Central Asia, a region not known for its attention to human rights, the death penalty has been on the decline. As the world marks Human Rights Day today, RFE/RL looks at progress being made to rid Central Asia of what Amnesty International calls the "ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights."
President Nursultan Nazarbaev has officially declared the beginning of a new stage of democratic reform in Kazakhstan. This week, he signed two decrees on elections. According to the decrees, "akims" or governors of villages and districts will be elected instead of being appointed by the president. Opposition members and independent experts say Nazarbaev's step is nothing but an attempt to weaken the opposition and improve his image ahead of hearings on the "Kazakhgate" bribery case, expected to resume in January in New York.
5 December 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Kazakh officials say that at least 23 miners were killed today in a blast at a coal mine in the northern city of Karaganda.
A large majority of Germany's 2.5 million repatriates or "Aussiedler" -- immigrants granted citizenship on the basis of their German ancestry -- come from the Soviet Union's successor states, mostly Russia and Kazakhstan. They are ethnic Germans from the Volga region and Crimea, deported by Josef Stalin in 1942 under gruesome conditions to Central Asia and Siberia. Fewer are arriving each year -- with 70,000 new repatriates in 2003 compared to a record 397,000 in 1993. But German authorities argue that despite decreasing numbers, their integration is becoming more difficult, because most of the latest arrivals speak no German. Now, Germany is introducing tougher rules in 2005 to limit entry to people who actually master the language. In the first of a two-part series about the challenges faced by repatriates in Germany, RFE/RL correspondent Sophie Lambroschini reports on how Russians and Kazakhs are adjusting to life in Wittstock, a small town in former East Germany.
People around the world with HIV/AIDS are often treated as social outcasts, deprived of human dignity as they battle not only the disease, but also religious, social, and cultural stigma. In Central Asia, however, the challenges are often even tougher for those with HIV/AIDS. In some countries, prejudice is actually contributing to the spread of the disease. And reports of abuse are widespread. For example, prisoners in Uzbekistan have reportedly been threatened with injections of the HIV virus for misbehavior. In the third of a four-part series on AIDS in Central Asia, RFE/RL looks at the attitudes of government and religious officials, as well as society in general, to the disease.
Over the past two years, HIV/AIDS infections have increased by 40 percent in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. According to a new United Nations report released in conjunction with World AIDS Day on 1 December, around 1.4 million people in that region live with AIDS or the virus that causes it. Worst affected are Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states. But in the first of a four-part series on AIDS in Central Asia, RFE/RL examines the early stages of what could become a regional HIV/AIDS epidemic.
29 November 2004 -- An official of Kazakhstan's ruling Otan (Fatherland) party says Otan leaders do not believe yesterday's blasts at the party's headquarters in Almaty were linked to political rivalry.
28 November 2004 -- Two explosions occurred at the headquarters of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev's ruling Otan (Fatherland) party in the center of Almaty today.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev Kazakhstan's political opposition has long been an inspiration for other Central Asian opposition movements. Major Kazakh opposition groups are financially self-sufficient and less repressed than those in other Central Asian states. But now, the Kazakh opposition is hungry for real political power. Some of their leaders are known as "young wolves" -- former officials and managers under the age of 40 were brought up under President Nursultan Nazarbaev's wings. Discontent with Nazarbaev's authoritative policies and disillusioned by apparently fraudulent parliamentary elections in October, these young leaders are positioning themselves for the 2006 presidential elections. In the second of a two-part series on opposition groups in Central Asia, RFE/RL looks at Kazakhstan. Part 1 --> /featuresarticle/2004/11/4515c0cd-89d4-4b35-9584-8f4c35a567db.html looked at the Uzbek opposition movement.
Tajik women Gender violence is present in every country of the world. But in some conservative societies of inner Asia, it has not even been considered an issue until recently and remains a taboo subject for public discussion. It is not only men committing acts of violence against women. In many cases in these traditional societies, it is older female relatives that are the tormenters. As women’s rights groups across much of Eurasia on 25 November observe an annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign, RFE/RL looks at some of the people working to change local opinions about violence against women.
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