Cyprus 
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Summary of CRE Activities
In the area of education there has been an introduction of a new course ‘Social Skills and Character Development’ at grades 3-4 and 5. The North Cyprus Mediation Association has been active in training teachers and providing material. The teachers attending the association’s trainings and courses receive certificates that are recognised by the education authorities. Peer mediation trainings are also provided to teachers and students. Another important work is the three year ‘Juvenile Delinquency’ projects which is part of Communities That Care Program that is being implemented at two middle schools one from each community.
The Mediation Association is currently running two UNDP-ACT sponsored projects in education as well as being in partnership with other CSO’S in their projects; such organizations as The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce and the proposed Rural Area Youth Development Project (RAYD).
The two projects in collaboration Turkish Cypriot Ministry of Education and Culture are :
CRE/PE Project: A 12 month project on ‘The Need for CRE/PE in CYPRUS’. It stared with an international conference and workshops in September 2006 in an effort to raise awareness to CRE/PE. The second face is underway that targets visiting 80 schools (K-12) and training 1600 teachers in CRE/PE.
Espérer Juvenile Delinquency Early Intervention Program: A crucially important three year project that targets the children of ages 11-15 at a local middle school living under conditions and in families that are deemed to put them at risk of developing social problems. It is a bi-communal project (involving Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot children) covering the early intervention program selected ‘Communities-that-Care’ involving bringing together Turkish Cypriot Municipality of Nicosia, local community representatives, professionals working in the area and managers responsible for service management.
Legislative and Policy Initiatives:
Officially very little is done in terms of adapting and implementing legislation or policy. There are however civil society organizations on both the Turkish Cypriot community and the Greek Cypriot community that are making inroads into the area of CRE/PE.
On the legal arena there is a conceded decision (30 September 2004) by the Turkish Cypriot Council of Ministers ‘to using mediation as a tool in resolving interpersonal conflicts’. There is also a bill submitted to the Turkish Cypriot Parliament by the former Chief Supreme Court Justice (founding member of the Mediation Association) through the consultation with the Mediation Association to integrate mediation into the legal system.
On the other hand as members of the European Union (EU), the Greek Cypriot community ‘must adopt procedures to enforce settlement agreements, protect the confidentiality of mediation communications and promote training of mediators under a new directive adopted on Oct. 25, 2004’ which will come into affect as of 1 September 2007. The EU Directive on ADR also requires Member States to develop mechanisms to ensure the quality of mediation services and encourage mediators to adhere to voluntary codes of conduct.
The North Cyprus Mediation Association put together a bill related to CR for the Supreme Court to submit to parliament; however, the bill has been waiting for deliberation for the past three years.
CRE Contact(s):
UZLAŞIM DERNEĞİ
NORTH CYPRUS MEDIATION ASSOCIATION
Adres: Şht. Sermet Kanatlı Sok. D.4,
Köşklüçiftlik, Lefkoşa. KKTC.
E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Tel: (0392) 228 6057
Fax: (0392) 227 3667
http://welcome.to/uzlasim
