Young Cypriot activist, Eleftherios Charalambous is making waves through his passionate commitment to environmental protection and peacebuilding.
As a participant in the UN Youth Champions for Environment and Peace program, Eleftherios has found both a community of like-minded individuals and a platform to ignite meaningful change.
His journey was the start of a transformative experience that would not only sharpen his leadership and problem-solving skills but also deepen his understanding of intercommunal cooperation.
As an environmental and peace activist, Eleftherios was keen to make the most of opportunities the program offered to meet others who share similar values, regardless of their background.
Describing the program as a “unique peacebuilding opportunity”, Eleftherios reflects on how rare it is to bring together people from across Cyprus, a region historically divided and foster genuine harmony. “No matter your age, gender, race, class, religion, ethnicity, or language,” he says, “at the end of the day, we are all human beings.”
Throughout the initiative, Eleftherios joined forces with a team called βioαktivizm, which coordinated two workshops and two group discussions. Their collective mission was ambitious and inspiring: to promote peacebuilding and intercommunal collaboration, raise ecological awareness, and drive societal action for biodiversity preservation.
The workshops used stencil art to highlight Cyprus’s unique endemic species and expose the often-overlooked issue of wildlife crimes. The discussions tackled crucial issues—from the negative impact of human activity on wildlife, to empowering women through sustainable, green policies. Special thanks were extended to speakers Deniz Miralay and Natasa Ioannou, who lent their expertise and support to the initiative.
But the work doesn’t end there. βioαktivizm plans to carry on their efforts through tree-planting and beach clean-up campaigns across Cyprus.
As the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “Cultivating a culture of peace means replacing division, disempowerment, and despair with justice, equality and hope for all”, Eleftherios and his group remain steadfast in their mission. They aim to raise awareness, build empathy, and amplify their message through people to people contacts and amplifying their voices through social media.
“Our wildlife is at real risk and should never be taken for granted, ” Eleftherios says. “They have no intelligible voice for us to understand. We do.”
His journey with the UN Youth Champions for Environment and Peace may have started with a message, but it has become a calling—one that echoes with hope, unity, and a powerful will to protect the planet and its people.
The UN Youth Champions for Environment and Peace program is organized by UNFICYP since 2020, in alignment with UNSC resolution 2250 (2015) and the UN’s Youth, Peace and Security agenda. The program is specifically designed to engage and empower young people in Cyprus, ages 18-30, to take an active role in peacebuilding through environmental initiatives and cooperation and aims to foster dialogue, build trust and promote joint action. For the last 3 years, the British Council has been a partner in delivering the program.