The State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili attended the opening of the photo exhibition at Merab Berdzenishvili International Culture Center “Muza”.

To mark the International Day of the Disappeared, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Georgia has organized in Tbilisi an exhibition “Forget Me Not”.

In the welcoming speech dedicated to this day, Ketevan Tsikhelashvili noted that the State will do everything in order to activate the search for missing persons.

"I know that today here are the members of those families who have directly faced this pain - disappearance of a family member. I also know that some of you still do not know where their family member is. That's why it's a very important day. We should remind the whole society how important is the engagement of each person in this process", - said the State Minister.

She emphasized that the State is ready to stand by those families whose members are considered missing.

"Our country has suffered a grievous trial. More than 2400 people have disappeared in the 1990s and August 2008 armed conflicts. So their search is the case that we must bring to the end.

I would like to thank all the people who are involved in the search for these people. I also want to point out that this is the direction where we actively cooperate with Abkhazians. And this is very important for reconciliation and confidence building", - added Ketevan Tsikhelashvili.

The „Forget Me Not“ photo exhibition runs until 2 September

The International Day of the Disappeared, on August 30 of each year, is a day created to draw attention to the fate of individuals imprisoned at places and under poor conditions unknown to their relatives and/or legal representatives.