Media Advisory - Dushanbe Workshop on Achieving a Mine-Free Central Asia, 7-8 July 2009

REGIONAL MEETING ON LANDMINE BAN TREATY: Governments and Campaigners from Central Asia Expected to Attend

WHAT: The Dushanbe Workshop on Achieving a Mine-Free Central Asia; a regional meeting on landmines

WHEN: 7-8 July 2009

• High-level opening with distinguished representatives from the Government of Tajikistan and European Union: 9:00-10:00 on 7 July
• Visit to a Mine Detection Dog Training Center: 8:30-12:00 on 8 July
• Members of the press are welcome to attend the entire meeting

WHERE: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Prospekt Ismoili Somoni 26/1, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

WHO:

• Government representatives from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan expected to attend
• Government representatives from countries that financially and technically support mine clearance and victim assistance; United Nations; international organizations
• Civil society campaigners and landmine survivors from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Russia and more

ABOUT: The Dushanbe Workshop is the third in a series of regional meetings convened in the lead-up to the Mine Ban Treaty's Second Review Conference, which will take place in Cartagena, Colombia in the week of 30 November 2009. Eighty percent of the world's states have joined the Mine Ban Treaty, but Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan still remain outside the agreement.

The Dushanbe Workshop will focus on clearance of mined areas, victim assistance, cooperation in the region, as well as challenges for joining the treaty.

CONTACT: Mr. Bakhtiyor Begmuradov, Tajik Campaign to Ban Landmines, Mobile: +992 918784139, Email: tajikistan@icbl.org

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES: Mr. Firoz Alizada (Dari, English). A landmine survivor since the age of 12, Alizada is now working for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines as Treaty Implementation Officer. He has addressed audiences throughout the world on the rights of people with disabilities, and has extensive knowledge of the landmine situation in Afghanistan - Mr. Roman Dolgov (Russian, English). Dolgov works for the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and is a researcher for the civil society-based initiative Landmine Monitor. He has good knowledge of the mine and explosive remnants of war situation in all Central Asia - Ms. Aziza Hakimova (Russian, Tajik, English). Hakimova leads the non-governmental organization Harmony of the World, the Tajik arm of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She has been campaigning on landmines since 2003 - Mr. Umarbek Pulodov (Russian, Tajik, English). Pulodov studies English in Dushanbe. He survived a cluster munition blast when he was six years old and joined Handicap International's Ban Advocates team in 2007, where he successfully campaigned for a ban on cluster munitions.