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The Caucasus at a Crossroads

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  • The Caucasus at a Crossroads

    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: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/caucasus
    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
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