A Civil Society effort like ours, aiming to mobilise the people of both communities towards reconciliation, is at its core based on active citizenship. It is a strong belief of ours that it is the grassroots who can create at large the right environment for peace and reconciliation on our island. The Population Survey of the CIVICUS Study of 2010 confirms the popular belief in Cyprus that a large percentage of people in both communities (80.4% of Greek Cypriots and 90% of Turkish Cypriots, respectively) do not belong to any social organization in Cyprus (CIVICUS Civil Society Index Study, 2011). More importantly so, the number of people involved in bicommunal activities post-2004 ranges between 9-14% (both in Greek Cypriot Community and Turkish Cypriot Community), a very low percentage.
In light of these statistics, ENGAGE (2011-2013) has developed an active citizenship campaign that is media driven. The campaign is our main tool through which we seek to motivate more people to participate in the social dialogue and become more active citizens both in their community and in the reconciliation process.
- Two weekly radio shows on BRT and Astra 92.8 FM voice the concerns and actions of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) across Cyprus making their good work known and networking them with the public.
- Three newspapers “Haberdar”, “Alithia” and “Politis” host Civil Society pages, solely devoted to NGO news. The NGOs of Cyprus see this as an opportunity to have a constant outlet with information on their projects, their advocacy efforts and their public events in general.
- Our social media work through Facebook and Twitter, outreach constantly and widely to youth online across the island to communicate public events of ENGAGE and highlighting reconciliation and the need for active citizenship.
Our interactive website provides information on all our activities and calls on people to get in touch with us and become involved as volunteers with the work we do.
