The first phase of the project “Reinventing European Solidarity and Raising Tolerance” – RESTART.euwas successfully completed on Tuesday 13th of December, at the European University of Cyprus in Nicosia. The project is in the framework of the European Program “Europe for Citizens” and was implemented by the Cyprus Youth Council and the Institute of Research and Training on European Affairs.
The Opening Ceremony began with the welcoming speech of Mr. Nicolaos Christofi, the General Secretary of Cyprus Youth Council, who introduced the speakers.
Ms. Christina Maris, the representative of the Institute of Research and Training on European Affairs, mentioned the aims and goals of RESTART, expressing the desire that the project will manage to raise the awareness on refugee crisis.
Afterwards, Ms. FatemaIslam, the representative of the Future Worlds Centre, present the programs that the organization runs and arerelated to human rights andsocial justice, emphasizing on refugees rights.
A short presentation on the Structured Dialogue and how linked to social integration of refugees is, was held by Ms. Christiana Xenofontos, project officer at the Cyprus Youth Council.
Last but not least, Ms. Iliana Petridou, member of the Pool of Trainers of CYC, present Cyprus Youth Council’s programs and actions related to refugees crisis. MsPetridou emphasized on the study-visits that took place in Kofinou, at the refugees’ camp, by the Pool of Trainers.
Right after the speeches, an interactive workshop took place, in which participants had the opportunity to discuss the causes and effects of Refugee and Migration crisis, underlining the challenges and the difficulties that the welcoming countries and the refugees that arrive to them have to face and concluding in proposals on how to deal with these challenges. Among the participants wereuniversity students,representatives of non-governmental organizations and volunteers.
The participants managed to easily respond to the needs of the workshop and contributed in the formation of a draft paper that will be included in the final Policy Paper that will be formed after the conclusion of the actions of RESTART project. The Policy paper will be presented in the European Parliament through the advisory status of I.R.T.E.A. and all partners.
For further information about Restart.eu you can find at the following link: www.europe-restart.eu
You can also visit Cyprus Youth Council official website at: www.cyc.org.cy
Contact info: [email protected]|tel. 22878316
