Launching Ceremony of the ENGAGE-Do Your Part for Peace project-Phase II

The ENGAGE - Do Your Part for Peace Project will introduce their second phase of the project which includes thee innovative informative and active dialogue campaigns and a small grants programme that will engage NGOs, the wider public and the Media even more towards the rapprochement of the two main communities in Cyprus. The public are invited to come along and find out more about the new groundbreaking phase of the project during the launching ceremony of ENGAGE on Tuesday, 21 February 2012, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Home for Cooperation, Buffer Zone, Nicosia.

ENGAGE Phase II will be running until September of 2013 and will follow up on the work that it has been doing over the last two years towards the rapprochement of the two main communities in Cyprus. The project will introduce an innovative advocacy and lobbying campaign, entitled, Active Dialogue Networks (ADNs), that will reinforce the efforts of Civil Society in both communities of the island to promote issues and recommendations pertaining to the need for policy change.

Furthermore the Programme will run an active citizenship media campaign and a number of decentralised public events as part of its “ENGAGE On the Move” informative grassroots campaign. “ENGAGE on the Move” will visit various urban and rural areas and engage with the public in informative discussions and presentations about the role of Civil Society and its efforts towards reconciliation. Last but not least, the second phase of our Small Grants Programme will also be introduced, for NGOs and informal group initiatives based on the efforts of reconciliation. Further details about the Programme will be outlined during the ceremony. 

For the purposes of the ceremony the ENGAGE team has conducted three audiovisual interviews with the Representatives of the two leaders, Mr. George Iacovou and Mr. Kudret Ozersay, and the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the UN, Ms Lisa Buttenheim. The three representatives give the positions of each side on the role and impact of Civil Society on the peace process and reconciliation in Cyprus. The interviews will be screened to the public during the event and will be available to the wider public in the following weeks.

The total budget of the project, spanning over the two years of its implementation, is 471,000 euro. The project is implemented by the NGO Support Centre and the Management Centre and is supported by the United Nations Development Programme-Action for Cooperation and Trust in Cyprus (UNDP-ACT). The ENGAGE team see this ceremony as an opportunity to meet with the public once again and help create further engagement and collaboration between the people of the two communities, for the establishment of peace and reconciliation in Cyprus.