President Ersin Tatar and the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades on Wednesday attended an event hosted by the UN at the old Nicosia Airport located in the buffer zone, under the aegis of Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) Colin Stewart.

Also attending the event was President Ersin Tatar’s Special Representative Ergün Olgun, the Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyannis and the co-chairs of the Bicommunal Technical Committee for Gender Equality Prof. Dr Nedime Serakıncı and Soula Zavov.

The event marked the official launch of an action plan on ways to ensure women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in the settlement process/an eventual settlement in Cyprus.

The action plan was developed in response to a request by the UN Security Council, which was part of a 2021 resolution.

“On January 27, in its resolution 2618 (2022), the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) welcomed the joint Action Plan and encouraged the sides to ensure the needs and perspectives of women are addressed in a future settlement”.

Also attending the launch online were representatives of women’s civil society organisations operating on both sides of the island.

The launch began with an opening speech delivered by the UN Special Representative Colin Stewart followed by the presentation of the co-chairs.

Among the most important points expressed during the presentation was the need to include more women in any future process, at least to a 30 per cent ratio.