On 16th March 2022 a parallel event within the framework of the NGO CSW66 forum was hosted by the International Alliance of Women, IAW Peace Commission and co-sponsored by Hands Across the Divide The event was titled ‘Women, Peace & Climate Change in a ‘Divided’ Cyprus.

Following welcomes from Marion Böker, the Acting President of the IAW and Katie Economides and Pembe Mentesh, co-chairs of Hands Across the Divide, Cyprus, the moderator Magda Zenon opened the event by calling on the 1st speaker of the 6-member gender and ethnically balanced panel, Dr. Xenia Loizidou.

The panel included Dr. Xenia Loizidou on ‘Creating an island-wide small business network as a peacebuilding tool’; Sibel Paralik on ‘How division has affected the implementation of the EU Green Deal’. Vijdan Şengör on ‘Why Climate Change impacts Women more’, Anthi Charalambous on a ‘Circular Economy’, Hanife Aliefendioglu spoke about ‘Green Care Economy: Where Climate Change meets Gender Budgeting’ and finally Prof. Dr. Marina Neophyrou about the ‘Cyprus Climatic Context’.

There were interventions from women from Kashmir, India, Ukraine and Georgia on how women are bridging divides especialy during climate change. It was during the intervention of Lyudmila Porokhnyak, the Chairwoman of the National Council of Women of Ukraine, that the Russians bombed the theatre in Mariupoli and everyone froze, some got quite emotional including the Lyudmila. It was followed by the final intervention from Salome Adamia from Georgia who gave a message of hope when talking about the collaboration of the women in her region; Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia

The event was well attended and the short Q&A was vibrant and full of questions, comments, ideas and suggestions for future collaborations including bringing together women peacebuilders to discuss practical suggestions that combine peacebuilding and climate change.
For more information about the event or if you wish to listen to the discussion, please click here WOMEN, PEACE & CLIMATE CHANGE IN A ‘DIVIDED’ CYPRUS - YouTube