Tbilisi, Friday, 21 May 2021 – The 2021 campaign, 'Landmine Free South Caucasus', kicked off today with an event for schoolchildren in Tbilisi.
School No. 64 in the Saburtalo District has pupils from diverse ethnic backgrounds – an appropriate venue for the campaign, which is a regional effort being delivered across the whole South Caucasus region in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Russian and English. Thousands of children in forty schools across the region are being engaged over the next two months to be made aware of the hazard of landmines, and to learn about the work that is being done by many to make the South Caucasus landmine free. In this part of the campaign, the children will say thank you in five languages to all de-miners working across the region.
During the launch event this morning, the school children saw a presentation on the work of deminers from Mr Oleg Gochashvili of the Georgian State Organisation, STC DELTA. They also watched an educational cartoon video highlighting the hazard of landmines for children and civilians.
In remarks at the event, Mr Maximiliaan van Lange, on behalf of LINKS Europe, spoke about a worldwide movement of governments and NGOs that are working to clear all landmines, and thanked the children of Georgia for being part of this international effort.
The second part of the campaign will take place in the Autumn and will focus on advocacy for demining work across the region.
The campaign, Landmine Free South Caucasus, is a collaborative effort by organisations from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia working with international organisations. It is co-ordinated by LINKS Europe, and is funded and supported by the European Union.
