Project Title: Building capacity among Cyprus NGOs towards increased participation in EU development policy and action

Implementing Organisation: CARDET, Cyprus

Total Budget: 57 150 euros

Total Request from Fund: 43 630 euros

Description of the Project and Expected Results:

While CARDET is in fact a non-profit research and development organization (NGO) it applied for PF funding with the aim to help strengthen the Cypriot NGO community in both the Greek and the Turkish parts of Cyprus and create a NG(D)O network which would not only work on national development cooperation, but also be active at the EU level[1].

[1] What is slightly confusing is that CARDET insinuates on its main website that the funding was granted by the European Commission, which is not the case!

Please  click here to download the Mid Term Report Summary and learn how this project is progressing.

Results after Implementation:

In the final report CARDET reported that it had organised all the capacity building workshops, some even without PF funding. At each of the two main PF funded workshops some 50 people participated, making them well-attended events. The conference, annex workshop, organised on 23 November 2007 focussed on the development of an effective advocacy strategy and practical guidelines. However, this was not published either on the CARDET main website or on the site especially developed in the context of the PF project. This is a lost opportunity to ensure a form of sustainability of the work done in the context of the PF. Likewise, the discontinuation of the updating of the before- mentioned development portal/website www.de.cardet.org could indicate that the project was not seen as sustainable.

In the project proposal CARDET indicated that it wanted to work with EU NG(D)O networks. In order to promote these contacts Eurostep invited CARDET to join its General Assembly in June 2007.  Eurostep also provided a trainer on EU development policies for both workshops organised by CARDET. Although CARDET reported that these workshops led to the initiation of a Greek Cypriot Platform (due to the political situation  an island-wide platform was not yet viable), it also indicated that working with a division of labour among participating NGOs did not result in cooperative actions as each partner only focussed on its own allocated tasks (a lesson learned).

Although CARDET acknowledged that prior to the PF grant they had not actively engaged in the process of advocacy, their activities in the project led to closer contacts with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Proof of their success was that CARDET was invited to join the national delegation to the European Development Days in Lisbon in November 2007 and attend a conference in Brdo (Slovenia) Challenges of EU27 development policy in February 2008, followed by a workshop in Cyprus to disseminate the information collected at the Brdo Conference. With these successes CARDET stated in its final report that it would continue its advocacy work and persist in its efforts to create an island-wide NG(D)O platform.