Gender Quotas as a Means to Break the Glass Ceiling Panel took place in Nicosia

The European Commission highlighted the role of gender quotas as a means to break the glass ceiling for women in a panel discussion on 28 March at the European Programme Support Office (EUPSO), Nicosia. After the opening speeches by Mr.Arttu Makipaa and Ms.İpar Çakmak Ergün, the panelists Johanna Maula, Nur Köprülü, Fazilet Özdenefe and Selen Necat Gürkan shared information and research results to raise awareness about the policies in the EU regarding gender equality, equal pay and gender quotas; to share examples from Europe on how to overcome the impact of the glass ceiling to achieve political empowerment and improvements in women’s economic participation, and to raise awareness about local implementations and opportunities.

The event was also an opportunity to discuss the gender quota as a means to overcome the glass ceiling for women and how these can also be applied in the Turkish Cypriot community. The European Commission has supported a series of activities to raise awareness about gender equality. This includes a panel discussion on the gender pay gap, rural tours to highlight EU supported opportunities for women in rural areas, and a number projects being implemented by civil society. The panel ended with a Q&A session.

The traffic safety training series, which is supported by the European Commission, targeting more than 500 grade 6 students at six schools in the Turkish Cypriot community in February continued at Lefke Gazi Lisesi in Lefka/Lefke and Mehmetçik Ortaokulu in Galatia/Mehmetçik in March. The trainings, organised in partnership with TRAKAYAD, aimed to raise awareness on the importance of traffic safety and the impact of traffic users’ behaviour on traffic crashes. The students who participated in the trainings learned about how to be safe in traffic. Information was also provided on what actions are being taken by the EU to reduce traffic crashes in Europe as well as EU's policy to halve the number of fatalities between 2010 and 2020.  

The EU has provided a total of €3 million in funds and technical assistance for the improvement of traffic infrastructure and traffic safety between 2009 and 2013 in the Turkish Cypriot community. The programme has helped improve the standards of vehicle inspection, the collection and treatment of data in case of collision and the operational management of traffic. It also enabled the development of a highway plan to address current and future mobility needs and to eliminate some of the traffic accident “black spots”. The EU is planning to provide further technical assistance to support the implementation of actions aiming to align the rules and the practices with international and EU standards in the domains of vehicle registration, driving licensing and vehicle inspection in the Turkish Cypriot community.

Protect the Environment Training for Kids

A "Protect the Environment" training series, organised in cooperation with the EU-funded Capacity Building in the Solid Waste, Waste Water Sector Project, took place at Dr.Fazıl Küçük İlkokulu on 5 March and at Alayköy İlkokulu in Gerolakkos/Alayköy on 15 March with the participation of 400 primary school students. The visits aimed to raise awareness in environmental protection. The interactive trainings included a short video on marine waste and a lively Q&A session with the participants. 

The Conference on Transparency and Accountability was organised on 1 March in Nicosia, Bedestan, by the "Civic Space" project, funded by the European Union under the Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community.
The Conference focused on concepts of transparency and accountability with their implications on different sectors in a given society and what should be the holistic approach in assessing such an integrity system.
The first plenary session was on the Concepts of Transparency and Accountability, and Holistic approaches in Integrity Assessment with the Transparency International Board Member Oya Özarslan as a guest speaker.
The second plenary session focused on Indicators of Assessment for Different Sectors with Lessons Learnt in Integrity Assessments with the guest speaker from Transparency International FYRoM Chairwoman Slagjana Taseva.
The Conference created an intense discussion on transparency and accountability by bringing together representatives of the media, business world, academics, civil society and administrations.

The EU-funded Technical Assistance to Build the Capacity of Local Stakeholder and Enhance the Competitiveness of the Private Sector (TAPS) Project Team conducted an awareness seminar on ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods for the Resolution of Commercial Disputes’ at EU Infopoint on 7 March.
The seminar sought to generate awareness in relation to Alternative Dispute Resolution (and particularly Mediation), present its associated benefits for the cost-effective and efficient resolution of commercial disputes and put forward recommendations for the implementation of mechanisms for increased company performance and competitiveness in the Turkish Cypriot community.
The participants, including members of the professional chambers and relevant stakeholders showed a high interest in the subject of mediation.