BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 15
Trend:
On 12th of May current year at 15:00 (GMT +4) virtual conference and exhibition took place, entitled: “The Landmine Epidemic and virtual contemporary art exhibition of humanitarian disaster caused by anti-personal landmines”.
Consultants from the UK and the Global Institute for Water Environment and health (GIWEH) from Geneva took part in the event. In the conference participated the representatives of the well-known international and local organizations and institutions.
The conference targeted to raise awareness about the risks of landmines and find the best practices for the regional safety enhancement and sustainable development of the liberated lands.
The conference discussed the consequences of the landmines to increase public awareness at the regional and international levels.
The increasing number of casualties as a result of the use of landmines in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan and many other war-torn countries have changed the debate from a political to a humanitarian issue to draw media and public attention, educate societies about the dramatic humanitarian impacts of landmines.
The message of the conference highlighted the importance of a rapid joint action at the international level to cope with rising challenges. The conference provided an overview of the potential risks of landmines in many countries including Azerbaijan and discussed possible opportunities for eliminating those impacts.
It was noted at the event that humanitarian crises start at a local level and early preventive actions need to be undertaken to avoid risks escalating and transforming into great challenges of global proportions.
The purpose of the conference was to seek help and find common solutions to the potential risks; reduce the existing level of hazards; reduce the probability of accidents at a local and regional level; and enhances cross-border cooperation between conflicting societies via the involvement of third parties.
In addition, the importance of raising awareness and the importance of joint action to maintaining stability and commit to peace among conflicting parties were highlighted. Increasing the level of casualties caused by the anti-personal landmines promotes hatred and turns into the obstacles in the future progress of the region.
All the guests and participants of the event throughout the conference voiced a very important idea, which consisted in an appeal to the Armenian leadership to show a constructive approach and to provide the Azerbaijani side with maps of minefields in the liberated lands.
The event participants expressed hope that through this conference they will be able to develop a common vision on cooperation and coordination in the field of anti-personal landmines, ensuring security and sustainable use of the liberated lands.