Civic Space is now expecting applications from registered or unregistered civil society organisations (CSOs) that would like to strengthen their organizational capacities in an inter-communal partnership.
The Civic Space Exchange Initiative aims to bring two CSO/initiatives from the northern part of Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus, to work in partnership on a chosen capacity building area determined by their particular organisational needs. The applying partnerships should include 2 CSOs, one from the northern part of Cyprus and the other from the Republic of Cyprus. Maximum 4 partnerships of 8 CSOs will be supported.
The Exchange Initiative aims to strengthen one capacity area of the partner CSOs (e.g., fundraising, working with volunteers, advocacy, organisational governance, communication and outreach, strategic planning). Thereby, the applying partnership is required to identify clearly on which capacity topic they plan to be jointly working on. The list of capacity building topics as well as detailed information about the Exchange Initiative is provided in the Civic Space Exchange Initiative Info-note.
Each cycle will last for 5 months, during which the selected partnership will be provided a mentor. The mentors who will be supporting the exchange initiative partnerships will be selected from the Civic Space Mentoring Programme. These mentors are Cypriot civil society activists with experiences and skills on a wide array of organisational capacity building topics and who have attended a series of mentoring trainings held by Civic Space since 2019.
In addition to the mentor, the partnership will be supported by
- Help desk support on other capacity building topics when/if required;
- Priority in Civic Space trainings and other events;
- Venue, transportation and catering costs for meetings.
At the end of each cycle, the supported partnerships will be expected to develop a tool, method and/or process on their focus capacity area. The tools mentioned could be diverse, based on the needs and topic of their choice, but can include tools/methods such as training curriculums, memorandum of understanding documents, do-it-yourself guidelines, strategy documents, manuals, films, etc.
CSOs who would like to apply to the Exchange Initiative can make use Civic Space CSO database and/ or partnership Help Desk support if they do not already have partners.
Eligibility of Applicants
The exchange initiative requires a partnership of 2 CSOs, one from the northern part of Cyprus and one from the Republic of Cyprus. Each partner should meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Operating as a registered (e.g., associations, foundations, non-profit companies) or unregistered citizen’s initiatives working in Cyprus for the public good;
- Having at least 5 active members;
- Committing at least 2 participants for continuous involvement in the exchange initiative process;
- Committing to work with their partner on a capacity building topic and to jointly develop a tool/method/process/resource at the end of the process;
- Presence in Cyprus throughout the mentoring process;
- The decision-making mechanism and/or the whole team of the organization or initiative having the motivation, time, and capacity for capacity strengthening in the chosen issue area.
If the number of partnerships that pass the eligibility check is more than four, then the following additional criteria will be considered:
- Regional and thematic balance.
- Urgency of the organisational need as expressed by the applicant CSOs.
Applications and Timeline
CSOs wishing to make use of this mentoring support can apply by filling in the form at the link:
The deadline for applications is 15 June 2022 at 13.00 hours.
The following indicative process will follow the deadline for applications:
- Selection: Civic Space will conduct an objective eligibility assessment and identify the selected maximum 4 partnerships that will be announced latest by 30 July 2022.
- Launch Meeting: The selected partnerships will then be invited to a launch event in which the Program will be further introduced, their needs will be discussed and identified.
- Mentee-mentor matching: Following this meeting, each partnerships will be matched with a mentor carrying the knowledge and experience on the relevant capacity area they identified. Mentoring support will be 8-10 hours long per month.
- Exchange Initiative support: The support will continue till January 2023 and the cycle will be closed with a closing meeting.
