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The project ends March 2006. | The project ends March 2006. | ||
2002-2005 | 2002-2005 | ||
===HASNA PROJECT=== | |||
The HasNa Inc. Washington has a five year history of collaboration with C.N.T.I. The project was initiated through leads given to us by former US Ambassador Kenneth Brill and former Fulbright scholar Ben Broom. | |||
The first part of the project consisted of 3 phases which were coordinated by two HasNa Regional Offices in Cyprus: one coordinated by Dr. Yiannis Laouris in the South and one coordinated by senior peace builder Huseyin Gursan in the North. The project had a duration of one year. During this year a group of young Journalists, were sent to Washington DC for training. Following a transparent process overviewed by an independent Board, 10 young journalists (5 GCc, 5 TCs) were selected. After having spent time together in Washington DC in the summer of 2002 they were collaborating in Cyprus on various projects. A major project was the development of the first bi-communal on-line magazine www.hasnajournal.org which is tri-lingual. The stated vision of this journal is to contribute towards the positive transformation of the Cyprus media, and the development of a common language, new ethics code and elevated professional standards, in the context of the forthcoming political settlement and the European Union accession. | |||
The Mission of the HasNa (CYPRUS) Journal is to explore and utilize the evolution and revolutions of Information and Communication Technologies as they transform the relationship between the mass media and peace by providing a virtual space where authors may freely express their opinions, suggest practical approaches to support the transformation process, and share their experiences. | |||
The Mission may be achieved through the: | |||
(m) feedback offered to candidate authors by senior peace builders | |||
(n) organization of events that focus on areas of priority regarding Cyprus journalism | |||
(o) feedback by expert members of the international advisory board | |||
(p) creation of a forum for open discussion and dialogue via the project's portal | |||
Their final project was the organization of a symposium with the most prominent journalists as its participants. In view of the forthcoming political settlement and the European Union accession, journalism in Cyprus need to be transformed to serve the needs of the times and meet the requirements of the new international standards. A new language needs to be developed. The symposium was designed with two structured dialogue sessions aiming at producing tangible results. | |||
Since January 2004, HasNa Cyprus is contracted to develop two further projects. | |||
The first project is a continuation of the previous one and it focuses on the development of the culture in the arena of the media. | |||
The second project focuses on economic development. | |||
We believe that long-lasting peace will only be achieved in Cyprus when the economic difference between Turkish and Greek Cypriots is minimized. Both the UN and the EU are now making available, for the first time, funds for projects to encourage joint business ventures, especially business activities that will contribute to the economic development of the North. However, the supporting infrastructure for business people to effectively form such partnerships and to absorb and benefit from these new opportunities is still lacking. | |||
This project will deploy a team with experience in business development to actively work with potential joint business venture candidates, supporting them from beginning to end to apply, manage and benefit from such opportunities, and to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary skills to succeed. | |||
The goal of this project is to facilitate the creation of Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot joint business ventures that are committed to integration and skills building of their workforce. Where possible, the project will also attempt to increase the number and quality of employment opportunities in economically challenged, mixed neighborhoods. The objectives include: | |||
• Convene groups of entrepreneurs, especially young business people, to identify emerging opportunities and any legal, regulatory or other barriers to forming joint ventures, with a special emphasis on those businesses that will enhance economic development and job opportunities in Northern Cyprus. | |||
• Provide business skills and conflict resolution training to business people and, where relevant, to their employees, to enhance productivity and increase the likelihood of success of these bicommunal business ventures. | |||
• Provide information, advice and other support services to small micro-enterprises (SMEs) and young business people seeking to benefit from relevant European Union (EU) and UNOPS funding opportunities that are now becoming available for business development. | |||
The project funding is expected to end Dec. 2005. | |||
===Youth Promoting Peace=== | |||
Youth Promoting Peace, known as Y2P, is a peace youth group founded in 1999. It was initiated by a group of active youngsters in the rapprochement movement. A positive coincidence brought a senior conflict resolution facilitator, Dr. Yiannis Laouris, president of the Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute, in contact with the group. Since then CNTI provides tangible and intangible support to the group. For this purpose it has created this Unit, which constantly employs young facilitators and hosts visitors, who come as volunteers to offer their support to the young leaders. The group organizes creative events, which aim to bring together primarily the youth of the two conflicting Cypriot communities and build bridges of communication and understanding between them. | |||
This project directly or indirectly affects a large number of people, mainly youth who benefit from the bi-communal activities organized by Y2P in the following ways: | |||
a)They interact with people from the “other” community, who are considered to be their enemies, collaborate for the organization of the events, work and celebrate together and form new and promising friendships based on tolerance, mutual respect and understanding. | |||
b)Young people realize that apart from differences they also share common elements with people from the other community, which could prove very important in terms of coexisting and communicating. | |||
c)The Young People initiate concrete dialogue with several officials, members of the government and NGOs and declare that young people care about their future and want to take pat in future evolutions which will shape their future. | |||
d)They create a viable network, which is essential for the sustainability of the project. | |||
e)This project attracts young people that never had the chance to take part in bi-communal activities, offering them ways to get involved in social and civil affairs. | |||
f)This project led to the expansion of cooperation between the youth of the two communities in Cyprus, individuals or groups. It is the start for further cooperation in the future. | |||
You can find more information in http://www.y2p.org/ | |||
