The Campaign on effective participation of CSOs at the local decision making levels in Lefka and Nicosia

Why Active Participation?

Civil Society Organisations are an indispensable part of Cypriot society. Today in the northern part of Cyprus, there are approximately 1000 associations registered under the Law on Associations and many foundations registered under the Law on Foundations, working together with more than 20,000 volunteers. At the same time, there are many unregistered networks, initiatives and platforms playing an active role in identifying and solving social problems.

CSOs are an important partner for the authorities in solving existing social problems and ensuring the democratic development of Cyprus and effective decision-making. They can provide a different perspective, offer alternative ideas and also seek the views of groups that are otherwise difficult to reach.

So where are the civil society organisations in the northern part of Cyprus, which experience the problems in the field, research, collect data and produce solutions, when decisions are taken to solve these problems? In short, it is possible to say that they are not where they should be!

CSOs should be able to "access information", "participate in the consultation process" and ensure their "active dialogue and participation" throughout the process, both within the central and local administration, regarding the policies and legal preparations developed. This is only possible by creating the necessary mechanisms.

Purpose and content of the Participation Standards:

The standards, introduced as part of the " effective participation at local level" campaign, aim to strengthen and facilitate the participation of individuals and civil society in general in decision-making processes. The legal framework in the northern part of Cyprus includes various legal texts that set out the necessity to involve CSOs in decision-making processes and to cooperate with CSOs. These model standards include operational steps for the implementation of such involvement and cooperation and the minimum requirements that any legislation should take into account in relation to the participation process or mechanism of participation.

Click here to access the full Participation Standards.

The model standards propose simple rules on when and how CSOs should be involved in policy and legislation formulation, implementation or monitoring. These model standards can be adapted and applied by all political bodies that want to create democratic decision-making mechanisms and involve civil society organisations in decision-making. The Civil Society Initiative Association and signatory organisations will provide technical support to all decision-makers who wish to use these standards.

About the Effective Participation at Local Desicion Making Levels Campaign:

The Campaign on Effective Participation at the local decision making levels was launched for the implementation of the "Participation Standards" in the northern part of Cyprus. On November 22, 2022, CSOs came together with an open call and decided to select Nicosia and Lefke as pilot areas for the campaign. With the 2022 local elections as the start of the campaign and monitoring process, the Civil Society Initiative Association and the signatory organizations started to meet with mayor and council member candidates and explain the Participation Standards. The aim is to provide information on the model standards, to ask the mayoral candidates to make promises regarding the effective participation of civil society organizations in decision-making processes if they are elected and, of course, to monitor the implementation of their promises after the election.

Become a signatory and support us:

Supporting civic participation is valuable not only for CSOs but also for all individuals who want to contribute to the decisions of decision-makers.

Please visit the "imzacı adaylar” page to see the candidates who has promised to implement the participation standards if they would be selected.

Do not forget to visit the "imzacı örgütler" page to see the organisational signatories of the campaign.