A strong vibrant network advocating for reconciliation in Cyprus
Support to civil society’s efforts in cooperation, peacebuilding, and reconciliation has been the focus of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Cyprus for more than a decade.
Building on twelve years of peacebuilding support to Cyprus the UNDP Action for Cooperation and Trust (ACT) programme is now moving into its third and final phase (2011-2013).
One of the key objectives of this final phase is the creation of a strong vibrant network advocating for reconciliation in Cyprus. The Peace it Together civil society network encompasses the main objective of creating a sustainable solidarity platform for the efforts of Cypriot civil society in peace building and reconciliation. Through Peace It Together, UNDP‟s partners will be provided with a cohesive platform for coalescing into a unique civil society network which is able to advocate for policy change, promote reconciliation and codify and transfer knowledge which would help enhance the local and regional practice of citizen-led peacebuilding.
Peace it Together has three components which together provide the tools for strengthening civil society capacities in reconciliation, developing the modalities for networking partnerships and empowering civil society partners to capture knowledge and experience. The three components are: a) A reconciliation index for improving understanding of the state of peace locally and predicting movements towards reconciliation b) Enhancing knowledge, innovation and capacity in reconciliation and c) Advocating for reconciliation and promoting European values.
As part of Peace it Together ACT currently funds several projects that:
• Strengthen Cypriot civil society’s ability to effectively support and contribute to the peace process
• Provide Cypriots with opportunities to have a say on social change issues which affect people across the island
• Promote cooperation, common understanding and reconciliation
While each project has its own niche, focus and expertise, all projects are geared towards achieving the overall Peace it Together goal of establishing a civil society network that advocates for reconciliation in Cyprus. Click here for more information about ACT projects
Partnerships
Our partners include business leaders, media and technical professionals, service providers, civil society activists, youth leaders, educators, academics, researchers, opinion leaders and policy makers in the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities.
UNDP’s support in Cyprus
Dating back to 1998, and initially under the Bi-communal Development Programme (BDP), UNDP’s peacebuilding work in Cyprus has undergone various transformations, graduating to today’s ACT programme. This history marks one of the most sustained peacebuilding efforts managed by UNDP anywhere in the world. The result is a corpus of knowledge and practice in reconciliation and post-conflict bridge-building which has the potential to be codified into practical tools which could be used locally or exported and deployed to other peacebuilding contexts.
In 2005 UNDP launched its peacebuilding project in Cyprus, Action for Cooperation and Trust (ACT). The purpose of ACT was to create opportunities for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to work together on projects which would benefit all people on the island, while at the same time promotes inter-communal tolerance and mutual understanding. In 2008, the ACT programme moved into its second phase, where it continued to promote inter-communal cooperation with a focus on strengthening civil society’s capacity to actively participate in the process of reconciliation.