A joint database on missing persons will be established between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the model previously used in the former Yugoslavia, International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) Director-General Kathryne Bomberger said in Baku.

Bomberger made the remarks at the international conference "Modern Approaches to Resolving the Issue of Missing Persons and Strengthening Cooperation," held in cooperation with the ICMP, APA reported.

According to her, the initiative would not only strengthen cooperation between state institutions but also improve communication between the Azerbaijani government and the families of missing persons, facilitate information exchange between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and serve as a mechanism contributing to peace.

"This is the model that we helped establish in the context of the former Yugoslavia. Today, although many years have passed since the end of the conflict, the governments in that region have created a joint working group on missing persons. They have established a unified database covering all unresolved cases and use it to exchange information. We hope this database will produce similar results. At first glance, this topic may not seem particularly compelling, but a database is one of the essential tools for enabling cooperation and building peace," the director-general said.

On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh, subjecting the territory to intensive shelling. A day later, on September 20, the authorities of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by the command of the Russian peacekeeping mission, agreeing to Baku's conditions, including the disarmament of the Defense Army and the dissolution of the republic. According to the figures cited, 223 people were killed in the offensive, including 20 civilians, six of them minors. Beginning on September 24, more than 100,000 residents were forcibly displaced to Armenia.