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Era Georgiade: “Young people and women should be part of the negotiations and their voices need to be heard”

Era Georgiade is a 21-year-old Cypriot, who despite her young age, has been very active in the field of negotiations and peacebuilding. Together with other participants, she took part in the "peacebuilding in divided societies" programme, organized by UNFICYP last year and in early 2022.

She is currently studying Liberal Arts and Sciences at University College Maastricht, in the Netherlands and is part of the board of the European Union of Cypriot Students (EUCS).

Once she found out about the UNFICYP’s initiative, Era registered to attend because she believed “the programme fits directly into what I study, and I thought it would be a great chance to develop my negotiation skills. Secondly, it was great to get inspired and see how EUCS could help,” she recalls.

She strongly believes that young people and women should be part of the negotiations and their voices should be heard at the table.

“By including young people and women in the negotiations, the chances of reaching a solution are higher,” she highlights. Era stresses that young people are the future of the island and women “with no doubt should have their seats at the peace talks.”

She says: “I learnt how important negotiations are and the fundamental principles involved in building peace. Additionally, the programme taught me that coming to an agreement is only the beginning of a peacebuilding process”.

The programme was a great opportunity to meet new faces from the other community and listen to their stories and experience, she adds.

Describing the programme as interesting, knowledgeable and engaging, Era concludes that “such efforts are very important for us to build a path towards peace across the island”.

The “Peacebuilding in Divided Societies” programme was organised by UNFICYP in collaboration with the British High Commission and the British Council in Cyprus. The programme will continue this year with the ‘Young leaders in action: inclusion of women and youth in peacebuilding’ initiative from January to March.