Reuters
Dec 3 2004
The Caucasus at a Crossroads
03 Dec 2004 14:34:00 GMT
Source: NGO latest
Elaine Baker
Oxfam GB – UK
Website:
The Caucasus at a Crossroads
Governments across the Southern Caucasus must take firm steps towards
improving the lives of poor people in the region, according to the
international aid agency Oxfam.
On Monday 6 December, the organisation is launching a campaign,
called the Caucasus at a Crossroads, to mark its 10th anniversary of
working in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The campaign aims to highlight the needs for governments to work with
civil-society organisations and the international community to help
tackle poverty levels of more than 50 per cent in Armenia, Georgia
and Azerbaijan.
In 2000, the three countries signed up to the United Nations’
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – international targets for
reducing global poverty by the year 2015. The aid agency says that
now is a crucial moment for governments across the region to take
action in order for the delivery of the MDGs by the 2015 deadline.
Oxfam is organising a top-level conference to look at the future of
the Southern Caucasus. The event, to be held on 6 December, will be
opened by the Georgian First Lady Sandra Roelofs, at the Marriott
Hotel, in Tblisi.
Representatives from the three governments as well as members of
civil society organisations will be attending the event, due to take
place at the Marriott Hotel, in Tblisi.
Regional Director for the Commonwealth of Independent States Adam
Leach says: `The people of the Southern Caucasus are coming to a
Crossroads and a moment for choices.
`Thirteen years after gaining independence from the Soviet Union,
nearly half of the population of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia is
still living below national poverty lines but the clock is now
ticking in the race to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by
2015.
`Oxfam is calling on national governments, the international
community, and civil-society organisations to work together to make
the best decisions and choices in order to improve the lives of poor
and vulnerable people in the region.’
Oxfam has been working in the Southern Caucasus for 10 years, helping
provide basic primary healthcare to poor people in rural areas and
also improve economic opportunities for poor people by helping them
set up their own businesses. The organisation also works with local
organisations to monitor government spending and make institutions
more accountable.
The aid agency is marking its anniversary by holding a string of
events across the Southern Caucasus looking forward to the next 10
years and the achievement of the United Nations MDGs.
Notes to editors:
1. For more information about the Caucasus at a Crossroads campaign
or if you would like to register to attend the conference on December
6 call 00 995 32 252 881 (Oxfam Georgia office) or call Media Officer
Zahra Akkerhuys on +44 7974 313566.
2. Oxfam’s new briefing note, called Taking Stock for the Future: the
southern Caucasus at a Crossroads, is available (embargoed until
00:01am UK-time, on December 6).
3. Video News Releases in Armenian, Azeri and Georgian are available
with footage of Oxfam programmes in each of the three countries.
4. Oxfam’s Regional Director for the Commonwealth of Independent
States Adam Leach will be available for interview at the conference.
Interview times will be arranged on the day.
5. Also available for interview will be Oxfam’s Georgian Country
Programme Managers Keti Getiashvili; Azeri Country Programme Manager
Shovcat Alizadeh; and Armenian Country Programme Manager Margarita
Hakobyan.
6. Oxfam’s partners in the Southern Caucasus include:
Armenia: Future Generation; Kamk and Korov; Bridge of Hope; NGO’s
Union of Shirak region; Support to Communities; Hask-96; Kapan
Entrepreneurship Development Centre; Economic Development Research
Centre; Institute of Democracy and Human Rights; Fund Against
Violation of Law; Centre for Regional Development/ Transparency
International Armenia; Democracy Today.
Azerbaijan: Aran; Expert Economic Magazine; Analytic Information and
Research Centre; Blind People’s Association; Healthy World; Finance
for Development.
Georgia: Small Business Development Foundation; Green Alternative;
Strategic Research Institute; Association of Young Economists of
Georgia; Sakhli; Georgian Health Law and Bioethics society; Civil
Society Institute; Grassroots Support Centre; The Welfare Foundation;
International Telecommunications and Information Centre; Georgian
Association of Young Lawyers; Association of Disabled Women and
Mothers of Disabled Children.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not
of Reuters. ]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress