ONEArmenia, HALO Trust launch campaign to demine LachinFebruary 23, 2017 - 16:51 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - ONEArmenia, in partnership with The HALO Trust (HALO), has launched a crowdfunding campaign, Mine Free Lachin, to clear one minefield (31,839m² of land) in the Lachin Corridor, near the village of Meghvadzor, ONEArmenia said in a statement on Thursday, February 23. A total of 31 minefields remain in Lachin. Once this land is cleared, the people living there can go about their lives, cultivating the fields, grazing their cattle, and further developing their communities safely and without fear of life-threatening accidents. Freeing the land of mines is an integral step towards development of the region, ONEArmenia said. The HALO Trust has cleared 88% of the known minefields in Karabakh and is hopeful that by 2020 Karabakh will be 100% mine free. “We are working to permanently remove a finite, solvable problem. Once the mines are found and destroyed, they don’t come back, allowing people to go on with their lives without fear of permanent physical, mental and emotional trauma,” said Ash Boddy, HALO Program Manager in Nagorno Karabakh. HALO has been working to clear Nagorno Karabakh of landmines since 2000 and is the only organization engaged in such activity there. To date, the organizations has cleared 453 minefields totalling 45,872,000m² of land and impacting the lives of approximately 125,000 people. Top stories The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Defense Minister Suren Papikyan has visited the southern Armenian province of Syunik, the Defense Ministry reported on March 18. Partner news | Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. Azerbaijan must respect human rights, Scholz tells Aliyev German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for greater respect for human rights in Azerbaijan. Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. |