The Azerbaijani NGO "Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines" has held an event in Baku State University to mark International Landmines Awareness Day. The focus of the event was the impact of landmines on victims and their communities - which is also the current theme of the regional campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus.
During the event, attended by over a hundred students from Baku State University presentations were made by Hafiz Safikhanov, Director of "Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines" (picture below) and a representative of ANAMA, the national state demining agency of Azerbaijan.
An emotional moment during the event was the presentation by a young deminer who had been a victim of a landmine explosion in the course of executing his duties.
The "Azerbaijan Campaign Against Landmines" has worked since 1998 for the banning of landmines in Azerbaijan and worldwide. (You can read more about the organisation in this interview with its Director published on commonspace.eu in August 2022 here). The NGO is also currently the co-ordinator of the regional campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus in Azerbaijan.
A spokesperson for the "Azerbaijan Campaign Against Landmines" said that the event at Baku State University on 5 April clearly showed that young Azerbaijanis are increasingly interested in the issue of landmines, which is one of the country's main challenges.
In its statement published on 4 April - International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, the regional campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus said that it was working towards the objective of having the South Caucasus free from landmines and other explosive remnants of war by 2030, or soon after. It called "on the governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and on all concerned, to increase their efforts and to find ways of working together towards this objective. A regional approach towards resolving the landmine problem in the South Caucasus is necessary." Read the Statement in full here.
source: commonspace.eu
photo: The Azerbaijani NGO "Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines" held an event in Baku State University to mark International Landmines Awareness Day.
