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PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
AGBU UN WORKSHOP TARGETS AN ISSUE CRUCIAL TO ARMENIA AND OTHER NATIONS
New York – On Wednesday, September 8, 2004, AGBU brought together
some of the leading voices in landmine eradication and environmental
issues at the largest gathering of non-governmental organizations
in the world – the United Nation’s 57th Annual DPI/NGO Conference
in Manhattan entitled “Millennium Development Goals: Civil Society
Takes Action.” Entitled, “Overcoming Obstacles to Economic Growth &
Community Development: The Role of Civil Society,” the AGBU workshop,
attended by Peggy Kerry – sister of Presidential candidate John
Kerry and NGO liaison to the US Mission of the United Nations – and
an audience of international NGO representatives, invited speakers
to discuss their grassroots projects in Afghanistan, Armenia and
Cambodia that help rehabilitate post-war societies through demining,
tree planting and other infrastructure-based initiatives.
AGBU United Nations Representative, Adrienne Alexanian initiated
and organized the workshop, a nine-month process involving weekly
meetings, extensive planning and networking with various individuals
and groups. Alexanian was also AGBU’s representative on the DPI/NGO
planning committee and the conference reception committee.
“It is important that Armenian organizations get involved with
international institutions like the United Nations, and promote ideas
and issues important to our community,” Alexanian said. “With my
continuing involvement with the United Nations, I am proud that we can
put together professional workshops that engage the world. I was also
very happy that as a member of the reception committee I was able to
promote HaiArt, an Armenian ensemble that played music by the Armenian
composer Gomidas during the opening reception in the Delegates’
Dining Room. The reaction to the music was tremendous and everyone
became aware that the well of Armenian music was so rich and moving.”
The workshop drew a standing room crowd of educated activists and
concerned NGO representatives. The speakers were Jeff Masarjian,
Executive Director of the Armenia Tree Project (ATP), Sally Mackle
of Rotary International, and Heidi Kuhn, President and Founder of
Roots of Peace, an organization founded to continue Princess Diana’s
legacy of landmine eradication. Adrienne Alexanian and her alternate,
Hrag Vartanian, moderated the event.
Masarjian’s presentation included a discussion of the realities that
confronted a post-war Armenia, including landmines and the blockade,
and their impact on the environment. He went on to elaborate about
ATP’s work at developing a sustainable countryside that is helped by
an ambitious program of tree planting and fruit drying projects that
employ countless numbers of Armenian war refugees from Azerbaijan. Now
in its tenth year, ATP has planted hundreds of thousands of trees
and continues to expand its programming.
Rotary International’s project in Cambodia works with local village
residents to demine their fields, purify their water, and provide
them with livestock for farming in the heavily-mined regions of
Cambodia. The country is home to some of the largest numbers of
landmine victims and they continue to struggle with the problem.
The final presentation by Roots of Peace founder and president, Heidi
Kuhn, outlined her work that builds on the former Princess of Wales’
vision of a mine-free world. As a result of a partnership with various
Californian wineries, Roots of Peace works in post-war countries,
like Afghanistan, to clear agricultural land of landmines and replant
vineyards that will rejuvenate the local economy. Featured on CNN, NBC
and ABC, Roots of Peace has garnered praised from UN Secretary General,
Kofi Annan, the US State Department and other prominent voices.
The presentations were followed by questions and interactive
discussions from an engaged audience that was well versed on landmine
and environmental issues.
Feedback from members of the NGO community pointed out the timely
nature of the topic and applauded the dissemination of information from
experts on these crucial initiatives to the international community.
A member of the UN NGO community since 1993, AGBU is the largest
Armenian non-profit organization in the world. The organization’s
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs reach over 400,000
Armenians annually. For more information, visit AGBU online at