 The EEA and Norway Grants support a new bi-communal centre focused on
education and intercultural dialogue in the UN protected area in
Nicosia.
Saturday 6 February 2010 marked the culmination of 3 years worth of
planning and hard work to see off the start of a shared centre for
civil society organisations and people from both sides of the divided
island. The official start of the renovation works on the house which
will host the bi-communal centre Home for Cooperation drew as many as
100 people to a street party in the UN controlled buffer zone this
Saturday afternoon.
The establishment of the shared centre is led by Cypriot civil society. The Association for Historical Dialogue and Research,
comprised of Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot educators and
historians, began planning the centre 3 years ago. Civil society from
both communities has later been brought onboard, and support has also
been rallied among local authorities in both Cypriot communities, the
Cypriot government, the UN and the Council of Europe.
In December 2007, the centre was awarded a €750,000 grant from
Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein – testifying to the strong political
support of the project and providing the necessary financial means to
set the idea out in practice
Meeting place
The new shared centre, the Home for Cooperation, is expected to open
in early 2011. It will serve as a meeting space for civil society
organisations and an educational centre for children and teachers from
both Cypriot communities. Additionally, the house will host a museum
and an exhibition centre, archives, and a research centre.
Peace talks
between the two communities on Cyprus were launched in September 2008.
In his visit to the island earlier this month, UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon delivered a joint statement
on behalf of the two Cypriot leaders through which they expressed their
confidence that with "good will and confidence" a solution could be
reached "in the shortest possible time".
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