Projects

 

Throughout the years Hands Across the Divide has organised and participated in a large number of activities on and off the island. Following is a brief description of such activities.
 
 
 
The first activity we did together but separately was when Clerides went to the North to have dinner with Denktash to mark the resumption of the peace talks on December 5 2001. Armed with banners of HAD and balloons, the ladies in the South demonstrated at the Green line and the ladies in the North outside Denktash’s house in favour of reconciliation and the resumption of the peace talks. The same happened when Denktash visited Clerides in the South, on December 29 (Read about it here, and see photos here).
The second activity was on January 15th 2002, the night before the talks began, simultaneous demonstrations were held on either side of the Green line with banners and candles together with other bicommunal groups (see photos here).
On April 5th 2002 we sent a press statement to an international press conference for peace of the Jerusalem Link group in Israel. The press statement also received support from other local bicommunal groups (read the statement here).
Also in April 2002, two of our members went to a Conflict Resolution Conference in Sri Lanka with women from various conflict areas.
In May 2002 Marie Mulholland, a North Irish activist was invited to Cyprus by HAD to do workshops in both communities, to give an open lecture on Women and Peace and to do a bicommunal workshop in Pyla (see photos here).
In June 2002, seven of our members (3 Greek Cypriot’s and 4 Turkish Cypriots) attended a workshop with seven members of Winpeace (3 Greek ladies and 4 Turkish ladies) in Vienna for a 2- day workshop hosted by the Bruno Kreisky Forum.
In November 2002 a bicommunal workshop was held in Pyla to work out the principles of HAD, which was a follow-up of the Marie Mulholland workshop mentioned earlier (see photos here).
In July 2003 Hands Across the Divide organised a Cinderella Demonstration against limitation on crossing the checkpoints in Nicosia (read about it here).
 
 
The ladies of HAD have also been very active in street demonstrations (see photos here). Some of these include:
 
  • support of the peace talks on the island (read about it here),
  • two in Nicosia in support of the Palestinians in the heat of the latest Intifada in the Middle East in 2002,
  • when Kofi Annan visited Cyprus to spur on the talks,
  • in support of some of our members in the North who were being charged for speaking freely (read about it here),
  • being present in Plateia Eleftheria every Saturday morning collecting sentences for peace from the public to forward to the community in the north, to contribute towards the ‘mountain of peace’ which was built outside Denktash’s. Each sentence of peace was placed in a plastic bottle (read about it here). 
 
In April 2008, Hands Across the Divide organised its first Peace Bus, visiting the villages of Lympia, Dali and Potamia, in the southern part of the island.
In June 2008 the second Peace Bus visited Argaki, in the northern part of the island.
In September 2008 Hands Across the Divide, together with its partner women's organisations, inaugurated the Women's Multicultural Centre in Nicosia.
 
In early 2009 the Peace Bus visited the village of Oroklini, in the southern part of the island.
In March 2009 a member of HAD travelled to Rome for the initial meeting of the AMICUS partners.
In May 2009 the two Italian volunteers of the AMICUS project joined Hands Across the Divide on the island.
In July 2009 the Peace Bus visited the village of Kofinou, in the southern part of the island.
In January 2010 Hands Across the Divide organised a women's concert at the Pallas theatre in Nicosia.
In March 2010 Hands Across the Divide organised a women's concert in Famagusta.
In June 2010 Hands Across the Divide was officially registered as a NGO and is the first women’s bicommunal NGO to be registered in the Republic of Cyprus.
In May 2010  the Peace Bus visited the village of Kontea, in the northern part of the island.
In September 2010 Hands Across the Divide organised a series of events in Nicosia to raise awareness of UN Security Council Resolution 1325.
In June 2010 Hands Across the Divide was officially registered as a NGO and is the first women’s bicommunal NGO to be registered in the Republic of Cyprus.
In May 2011 Hands Across the Divide started to circulate a petition in support of the implementation of UN Security Council 1325 (2000) in Cyprus, especially in regards to women’s presence within the negotiating teams.
In 2011 members hosted a “Keep It Until Peace Comes" event, inspired by Leyla Kirlap’s book.
In 2011 Hands Across the Divide became a member of the Cyprus Community Media Center (CCMC).
As a part of the 2-year Volunteer & Diversity project, a closing event was held in May 2011 on Ledra Street to celebrate, engaging the public with the question: “What does peace mean to you?”
In May 2011 Hands Across the Divide participated in the opening of the Home for Cooperation, hosted by the Association of Historical Dialogue (AHDR).
In 2011 Hands Across the Divide collaborated with the Feminist Atelier and the Patriotic Women’s Union to create a flyer on what peace means to women in honor of International Peace Day.
In November 2011 members of HAD were invited to a IKME bicommunal workshop in Larnaca.
In November 2011, Hands Across the Divide hosted Women in Films, By Women series at the Home for Cooperation. Click here for pictures.
In 2011 Hands Across the Divide drafted a press release to congratulate the three female Nobel Peace Laureates and activists, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, Tawakkol Karman.
In January 2012 Hands Across the Divide appointed a member to represent the organization at the Women’s Multicultural Center.
In January 2012 Hands Across the Divide was invited to participate on the management board of the Cyprus Community Media Center (CCMC).
 
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