CONTENTS:

1 - AFGHANISTAN: "Opium eases my pain, keeps my children quiet"
2 - TIMOR-LESTE: Grappling with youth unemployment


1 - AFGHANISTAN: "Opium eases my pain, keeps my children quiet"

SHORTAPA, 16 July (IRIN) - Tordi, 45, finally quit her opium habit after six
stillborn births and delivered a healthy baby girl. "I was using opium to ease
my body pains and to be able to work better," she told IRIN in her home in the
Shortapa District of northern Balkh Province.

Addiction, long hours of hard labour and poor nutrition had weakened Tordi's
body so much that she almost died during her sixth delivery before her family
rushed her to a district hospital.

"Doctors told me if I don't stop using opium I will die in my next pregnancy,"
she said.

Tordi's predicament is common among women working in Afghanistan's traditional
carpet-weaving industry, who use opium as a painkiller or to stave off fatigue.

The country produces about 200 million sqm of carpets and rugs every year, with
annual exports valued at US$170 million. From sheep breeders who produce the
wool to merchants who export the final product, about six million out of a
population of 30 million are involved in the business, according to the
Afghanistan Investment Support Agency.

Opium addiction among rural women has been exacerbated by a lack of access to
health services either due to cultural restrictions or dearth of health centres,
say health workers.

"Women use opium not for fun or luxury but as the only available painkiller to
them," said Mahbooba Ebadi, an obstetrician in Balkh.

It is unclear how many Afghan women use opium, but a 2005 addiction survey by
the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) put the number of adult female drug
users in the country at 120,000.

Child addicts

"When my children are restless and cry I cannot work properly," said Feroza, a
carpet weaver and a mother of six in northern Faryab Province. "When I give them
a small piece of opium they become calm and fall asleep, allowing us to work."

Pediatricians say giving opium to infants is extremely harmful. "Opium is like
poison to an infant," said Homayun Ansari, a physician in Balkh.

Afghanistan not only has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates
in the world, but also one of the highest fertility rates in Asia, according to
UN agencies.

Amid widespread food insecurity and a dearth of quality obstetric care, an
Afghan woman on average gives birth to five or six children, despite serious
health risks in pre- and post-natal periods.

About 39 percent of children younger than five in Afghanistan are underweight,
54 percent suffer from stunting or sub-optimal physical growth, 53 percent
suffer from vitamin A deficiency and more than 60 percent suffer from iron
deficiency and anaemia. As a result, about 600 children under the age of five
die every day from pneumonia, diarrhoea and other preventable diseases,
according to the UN Children's Fund.

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2 - TIMOR-LESTE: Grappling with youth unemployment

DILI, 16 July (IRIN) - A decade after voting to end Indonesia's 24-year
occupation, Timor-Leste is struggling with one of its thorniest socio-economic
problems: half the men aged between 20 and 24 in Dili, the country's largest
city, are unemployed.

Various government and non-government initiatives are in place to address this
problem, but in the absence of foreign investment or a dynamic local private
sector, much more is needed, say analysts.

An estimated 20 percent of the country's 1.1 million inhabitants are
unemployed.

About 90 percent of the workforce is employed in agriculture, though this is
largely seasonal, subsistence work, leaving an estimated 40 percent of this
cohort effectively underemployed.

According to the UN Development Programme, 50 percent of the population lives
below the national poverty line of US$0.88 per day, despite oil-based GDP per
capita of $4,500 for 2008.

The country ranks 158th out of 179 countries in the UNDP Human Development
Index, making it the least developed country in Asia.

"Job creation is vital to economic and political stability. With a median age
of 21.8 years, creating jobs for the youth is integral to any employment
programme in this country," Fernando Encarnacao, a youth employment and
community empowerment specialist for the International Labour Organization, told
IRIN.

Youth violence

"With so many young people idle, it is easy to see how they became involved in
2006," he said, referring to the social instability that year.

More than 150,000 people were displaced during violence between rival groups
within the army and police and among the wider population.

According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) , the crisis
was caused by political rivalries dating back to the independence struggle up to
1999, divisions between "easterners" and "westerners", as well as chronic
poverty and a large and disempowered youth population.

James Scambary, author of an April 2009 report, Groups, gangs and armed
violence in Timor-Leste, added that political manipulation of dozens of youth
gangs contributed to the unrest.

Moreover, these groups, largely comprised of "young kids with nothing else to
do", continue to engage in crime and violence, he said.

But addressing such a problem is not easy. An estimated 15,000 young people
enter the job market each year, and with 35 percent of the population younger
than 15, the issue will become more pressing in the future, not least if the
discrepancy between Timor-Leste's GDP per capita and real living standards is
not addressed.

A way forward

One approach adopted by the government is to promote entrepreneurship and
self-employment, in tandem with better skills training and business-oriented
thinking for school leavers.

"Generating self-employment is vital. People see business opportunities, but
cannot access capital. We provide credit to help," said Angelo Soares of Tuba
Rai Metin (Feet Firmly on the Ground), an NGO specialising in microfinance
programmes.

However, according to MP Fernanda Borges, who leads the opposition National
Unity Party: "Foreign investors are unlikely to come to this country while our
skills base remains low."

Timor ranks 170 out 181 on the World Bank's Doing Business Index, making it a
difficult location for start-ups and new enterprises. It also means more reforms
are needed to attract foreign investment, though some non-oil sectors are
attracting external interest.

"There are parties looking to invest in construction and tourism," one World
Bank official said.

For now, locally generated employment, possibly involving public works
programmes, would help to improve the infrastructure and road system, while
providing jobs for idle youth.

President Jose Ramos-Horta told IRIN the government would employ "thousands of
people" to build 4,000km of new roads.

But according to Brenda Barrett of the Education Development Center in
Timor-Leste, "Youth in Timor-Leste need to learn by doing."

Barrett runs the USAID-funded Preparing Ourselves for Work programme, working
alongside local organisations to provide training on and off the job for 16-30
year-olds.

"We aim to generate professionalism, a work ethic, and much-needed
self-confidence," she said.

This accords with Scambary's view that undermining gang culture "needs more
than jobs; it means a sense of entitlement, and community responsibility and
acceptance".

But with so many young Timorese out of work, large-scale projects may prove
vital in the short term as government agencies and NGOs cannot reach everyone.

"I haven't received any skills training, or been informed about any employment
schemes," said Edio da Silva, from Becora in Dili. He is 19 and has been out of
school and out of work since he was 14.

"I just stay home. Many of my friends do the same," he said.

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