Few days ago, I was in Brussels for work. My visit coincided with the II Youth Convention on Volunteering that you can read more about here. Held at the main entrance of the EU Parliament, Convention hosted more than 1500 young people.
I was lucky to participate at one of the workshops held on the last day of the convention. It was a film screening of a short documentary about the Caucasus prepared by a talented and bright woman Letizia Gambini. The documentary looks at youth, media, and democracy processes in all three Caucasus countries- Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. I was there as a guest speaker to talk about currently pressing issues, gender rights, youth rights and etc. after the movie ended. It was a fruitful discussion as we talked about issues ranging from human rights violations to gender equality, visa issues and more.
Overall, this trip to Brussels showed me how little is known about the Caucasus let alone its issues. Strange and ironic in a way especially since we vest so much hope in these higher European institutions for support and understanding and yet it is only a small fraction that is aware of the issues, problems, and difficulties these countries are facing.
There is so much more that needs to be done to raise more awareness and attention to our region...
No comments:
Post a Comment