On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Mine Ban
Convention, the Embassies of Australia, Canada and Norway in Athens in collaboration with Hellenic Aid invited to the photographic exhibition "Halfway - Bosnia a decade after" by John Rodsted at Syntagma Metro Station 7-14 February. A public panel discussion took place 14 February at the Hotel Grande Bretagne.
The Australian Embassy, in partnership with the Canadian and the Norwegian Embassy in Athens and Hellenic Aid, are undertaking a joint public awareness initiative on the humanitarian impact of landmines. The initiative will focus on the Balkan region, as well as refer briefly to activities in which all four countries are engaged in other regions of the world.
The major component of the initiative is an exhibition of photos taken by Australian photographer, John Rosted, as part of a Norwegian People's Aid (Norsk Folkehjelp) project in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Rosted's exhibition is a series of pictures contrasting the progress made in ten years after the war in Bosnia with the human tradegy of war and the devasting impact of landmines on people and communities.
General Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Theodoros Skylakakis inaugurated the exhibition 7 February. The ambassadors of Australia, Canada and Norway were also present.
The panel discussion on "The Mine Ban Convention: A decade on" organised in cooperation with the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) took place Wednesday 14 February at the Hotel Grande Bretagne (Syntagma Square).
Moderator: Mr. George Kappopoulos, Journalist, Imerissia Athens
Speakers:
Mr. Craig Maclachlan, Deputy Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament and Deputy to the President of the Mine Ban Convention
Mr. Per Nergaard, Director of the Mine Action Unit, Norwegian People's Aid
Captain Christos Vrakatselis, Landmine Unit, Ministry of Defence, Athens
Dr. Stamatios A. Papadakis MD, PhD (Orthopaedic Surgeon), Medecins du Monde-Greece
Dr. Thanos Dokos, General Director of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)