Brigade of Young Peacebuilders for Karabakh Peace
00:00, March 23, 2009 | Press Release | The Rights of Conflict VictimsThere was serious and important discussion in the first part of the day, during the second half, friendly relations, contacts and acquaintance with the culture of youngsters living on the other side of the border and then discovery of their own in the unfamiliar.
Having met for the first time in Tbilisi, Georgia, the young peacebuilders discussed not only the conflicts in South Caucasus and their problems but also they had a good time around a table with songs and dances.
HCA Vanadzor initiated the discussions on one of the hot conflicts in South Caucasus – the Karabakh conflict. The organization held the meeting of 28 youngsters from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh giving them the chance to speak about the conflicts in their region and their consequences and at the same time to get familiar with the understanding of peacebuilding.
As a result, a brigade of young peacebuilders was formed that has already started to monitor the problems of the Armenian, Azeri and Kharabakhian victims of the Karabakh conflict – refugees, families of missing persons and prisoners of war. Then there will be a report addressed to the governments and the international society, joint works by young journalists and writers, joint website for closer communication and discussion. These are the best options to involve youth in building peace that will prevent the idea of violent way of conflict regulation among them enabling them to see with their own eyes the signs that war had left on the victims’ life.
The two-year project “Formation of a Brigade of Young Peacebuilders” that is directed towards involvement of youth in peacebuilding processes has been implemented since August of last year with the support of the British Embassy in Armenia.
Promotion for the peaceful regulation of conflicts is one of the strategic directions of HCA Vanadzor and this project aims to increase the role of youth in peacebuilding processes and to expand their effective participation.