TBILISI, Georgia -- Some 20 young people from the Caucasus, Central Asia and Russia met in Tbilisi, Georgia, for the second One Minute Jr. workshop organized by UNICEF, the Young People's Media Network (YPMN), the European Cultural Foundation and the Sandberg Institute.

The organizers received more than 130 applications from the region and selcected 20 participants (aged between 12 and 19) from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as from Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan.

The young people will be trained by Allard Zoetman from the Netherlands and David Djindjinkhashvili from Georgia, both graduates of post-graduate arts organization, the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. The topic of the workshop is "Inside - Out" and will inspire the participants to produce One Minute videos on social inclusion related to UNICEF's "Leave No Child Out" campaign in Central and Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltics.

The four-day workshop, taking place in the Internews Georgia office, was opened by Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UNICEF representative in Georgia, who welcomed the participants in Tbilisi.

"We are very happy to have you here, because it's highly important for UNICEF to not only work for children, but also with children. We support the Young People's Media Network here in Georgia and have seen some extraordinary results. Now we are going a step further by having all of you here, from our neighboring countries in the Caucasus as well as from Russia and Central Asia. I wish you good luck with your work and I look forward to seeing your films at the end of the week." All produced videos will enter the competition for the annual OneMinuteJr. Awards, held in Amsterdam in November 2003. There will be two categories at the Awards Ceremony later this year: "Inside - Out" (focusing on social inclusion) and "Best of the World Jr.", an open category without special focus. (Additional information on how to participate in the competition and an application form can be accessed online.) Further OneMinuteJr. Workshops organized by the three partners will take place later this year in Marseille, France and Berlin, Germany.   CAPTION

Workshop participants from Russia, Armenia, Georgia and Tajikistan examine a digital camera before they set off on their One Minute Jr experience.