Power of One Conference 2012

 

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The Cypriot civil society network for supporting peace in Cyprus - “Peace it Together” – will convene an international learning exchange on the role of citizens and civil society in stimulating social change in periods of transition. This forum will focus on the exchange of knowledge between Europe and the Arab region. The conference comes at a historic moment, as both regions grapple with the consequences of deep-seated social, economic and political transitions. In the Arab region the citizen-driven process in social-political change has brought to the fore the power of civic movements and civil protests.  Parallels with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (including the former Soviet Union), after the fall of communism, resonate powerfully. The transformation from a command social economic and political system to democracy and free market economy has often been challenging and many countries in both regions continue to manage complex and large scale change processes.
 
Through these objectives it is expected that the learning exchange will result in the following:

• Development of a framework for the sustainability of inter regional collaboration including proposals for financial sustainability and mobilizing donor support.
• At least two concrete proposals for inter-regional social innovation camps, with the intention that these will lead to specific inter-regional projects.
• At least one inter-regional CSO issue based coalition/network.
• Agreement on a declaration which captures a commitment for inter-regional collaboration between Civil Society Organisations.