Nicosia mayors call for restoration of bicommunal peace education programme

Nicosia mayors from both sides of the divide have called for the revival of the bicommunal peace education initiative Imagine.

A recent event by the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR) at the Home for Cooperation in Nicosia saw 200 participants attend, including Nicosia mayor Charalambos Prountzos and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mehmet Harmanci.

“If we are to achieve peace on this island, if we are to achieve reconciliation and solidarity towards each other, then we need to actually know each other. First, we need to imagine this. Both of us are supporting it,” Harmanci said.

Prountzos praised the teachers involved, emphasising that hope is an active endeavour and underlined the importance of translating hope into tangible cooperation across communities, beginning with children.

Sources have told the Cyprus Mail the education ministry will be issuing circulars imminently to support the programme’s reinstatement.

Education Minister Athena Michaelidou previously confirmed that the bicommunal initiative would resume in January following concerns that the ministry had quietly withdrawn support in recent months.

In the north, sources indicate that Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman’s administration intends to appoint a new co-chair to the bi-communal Technical Committee on Education, a step viewed as essential for facilitating reintegration.

The Imagine programme, launched in 2016 under the AHDR and funded by the German federal foreign office, has engaged more than 8,200 students and 2,600 teachers to date.

It offers workshops and training in peace education, anti-racism and human rights.

The initiative operates on a voluntary basis, with parental consent required, and has been endorsed by the United Nations as a confidence-building measure.

The event featured the viewing of AHDR’s promotional video Let’s Imagine Together!, depicting children from both communities constructing a shared kite as an allegory for collective participation.

AHDR director Loizos Loukaidis opened the evening, emphasising the organisation’s determination to maintain its work despite political stalemates.

“Our work cannot be paused while we wait for politics to catch up with reality, nor can it be silenced by stalemates or setbacks.

“On the contrary, it is precisely in moments of crisis that civil society must insist on its role, strategically, persistently, and with integrity,” he said.

AHDR Board co-presidents Kyriakos Pachoulides and Hale Silifkeli added that Imagine showed what is possible when education becomes a bridge instead of a boundary.

The programme’s return comes after a prolonged pause, which began in October 2022 when former Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar withdrew from the bicommunal component, and subsequent misinformation was levied by Greek Cypriot media and teachers unions regarding the nature of the programme.