Richard Belliti, Secretary of the UN-accredited International Institute of Right & Development (IRDG), Nidal Selim, Director General of Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health (GIWEH), Noah Curry, Executive Director of the Youth Parliament for Sustainable Development Goals (YPSDG), Aya Linda, Program Coordinator delivered speeches at the panel meeting.
During their visit to Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, the speakers shared their views regarding the monitoring of mines that had been buried by the Armenian military forces.
IRDG expressed its deep concern about the danger posed to the population by the explosive remnants of war in the territory of Azerbaijan.
Nowadays, Azerbaijan is working on the eradication of the remnants of war by all means at its disposal, as well as on the improvement of the social integration of 750,000 IDPs. However, it is impossible to return the IDP-s back to their homeland until the region is completely cleared of the remnants of war.
It was noted that despite the resources allocated by Azerbaijan for the demining of the Karabakh region, international community should also support Azerbaijan for the effective solution for the mining problem. “International assistance will save lives, enable IDPs to return to their homes in safety and with dignity and ensure the sustainable development of the affected areas and people”, he said.
The speakers drew attention to the deaths and injuries of civilians as the result of the mine explosions in Azerbaijan. Armenian participant’s absurd question “Who buried mines there?” has been unequivocally answered: “Armenian Armed Forces” .
The meeting participants noted that during their visit to Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, they witnessed the terrible destruction and environmental disaster committed by the Armenian side.
Reminding that there are 17 Sustainable Development Goals, one of the organizations’ representative suggested including the problem of mines to this list as the 18th goal.
Citing the situation in Azerbaijan, the speaker has noted that without solving the problem of mines, it is impossible to achieve all other goals.
