commonspace.eu is pleased to be the media partner for the regional campaign, Landmine Free South Caucasus 2021.
The campaign is a collaborative initiative of organisations in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, working with international partners. It is co-ordinated by LINKS Europe, and funded and supported by the European Union.
In a message on the occasion of the international landmine awareness day – 4 April – the organisational members of the campaign announced the themes and objectives of this year's campaign. The first part will focus on raising awareness of landmines and their dangers among school children, especially in mine-affected communities. As part of the activity children from across the South Caucasus will be invited to say thank you to all those who are working to make the South Caucasus landmine free.
The second part – with the theme, Landmine Free South Caucasus. NOW! – will take place across the region from 15 September to 15 October. It will highlight the plight of the region’s growing number of victims of landmines and unexploded remnants of war, their families and communities, and address the issue of tackling the landmine problem in the region with a sense of urgency. The campaign will be conducted in five languages: Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Russian and English.
The Children of the South Caucasus say thank you to deminers
The 2021 campaign, 'Landmine Free South Caucasus', kicked off on Friday, 21 May, 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 de-miners made by Mr Oleg Gochashvili from 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 members of the campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus are:
The Center for Humanitarian Demining and Expertise (Armenia); The DELTA State Demining Agency (Georgia); The Caucasus Policy Analysis Center (Azerbaijan); The Europe-Georgia Institute (Georgia); The HALO Trust (International) and LINKS Europe (EU).
For more information about the 2021 Campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus please contact LINKS Europe (office@links-europe.eu)
