FIELDS OF EXPERTISE & INTEREST:

• Human Rights
• Youth Active Participation
• Youth Advocacy
• Youth in Diplomacy & International Relations
• Youth Empowerment
• Youth Inclusion in Decision Making Mechanisms
• Youth & Women’s Leadership
• Youth Rights
• Youth for Security and Cooperation

 

EXPERIENCE:

Ioanna has a great passion for youth issues, excessive expertise as youth expert, youth advocate and youth leader. Her youth rights specialization due to her legal background, her profound management, organizational and interpersonal skills makes her a capable trainer. Ioanna’s love and passion for youth issues and youth rights started back in 2009, when she firstly joined youth organisations during her studies. Her involvement with the Youth Sector in Cyprus began in 2013 when she was selected by CYC as a Youth Ambassador for Structure Dialogue (2013-2015). Since then, she is actively involved in many projects of the Cypriot youth movement-including projects related to non-formal education, with an extensive experience on a local, national, European and international level, having as her main aim the implementation of youth policies and the continues work for youth rights and youth empowerment. Since 2013, she has participated in many youth projects, youth conferences, events and trainings abroad and she was selected to represent Cyprus in many youth events around the world such as the first Global Forum on Youth Policies (Baku, October 2014) and One Young World the Dublin Summit (October 2014). In 2014 Ioanna founded “Cyprus Youth DiplomaCY”, a Cyprus’ based NGO where she served as its’ first President between 2014 and 2017, and since 2019 she was elected again as the President of the first only women-led Board of DCY. Cyprus Youth DiplomaCY is the first youth NGO in Cyprus aiming to include young Cypriots in diplomacy and international relations structures of Cyprus. Since 2015, Cyprus Youth DiplomaCY is a member organization of Cyprus Youth Council.  

BRIEF BIO:

Ioanna Demosthenous is a legal advisor specialing in human rights and public international law, with great interest and experience in diplomacy and international relations. She holds an LLB (University of Athens, Greece) and an LLM in Public International Law (University of Nottingham, UK). She is the founder and president of Cyprus Youth DiplomaCY, the first and only NGO in Cyprus dealing with thematics of diplomacy and international relations, aiming in empowering young people by including them in decision making structure and mechanisms of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as giving young people the opportunity to influence and shape the foreign policy of Cyprus. It is worth mentioning that Cyprus Youth DiplomaCY is a partner of Cyprus’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs in youth related issues. Ioanna is also a youth expert and youth advocate working pro bono the past 8 years in many local, national, European and international projects for youth empowerment and youth participation.  

WORKING LANGUAGES:

Greek, English, French  

MY MOTTO:

“You are never too young to lead, and we are never too old to learn.” – Kofi Annan