Meet the founder and the mission

Behind the Cyprus Peacebuilders Network is Andrianos Charalambous, a peacebuilding activist, communications professional and researcher who has been involved in initiatives promoting dialogue, cooperation and social change from a young age.

He started actively advocating for reproachment from the age of 14 (2004) and since then he has walked around Cyprus with a bicommunal team (2017), marched for reopening of checkpoints and cooperation against the Covid-19 crisis (2021) and took part in the sailing around the island under the Olympic flag (2024).

His belief is simple: peace is not built only through dialogue about conflict. It is built through action, relationships, cooperation and the creation of opportunities for people to work together. For Andrianos, peacebuilding is not simply the absence of conflict. It is about building the relationships, trust and cooperation that allow people and communities to imagine a different future together.

This belief is at the heart of the Cyprus Peacebuilders Network (CPN).

CPN is being established as a platform for action towards peace and reconciliation in Cyprus. Its purpose is not simply to bring people together, but to create and support meaningful initiatives that can contribute to a more peaceful, cooperative and connected island.

In its first phase, CPN will develop its own activities around three pillars:

🌱 LOCAL ACTION
Organising trainings, workshops and initiatives that build trust and promote practical strategies for peacebuilding in local communities, alongside activities such as day trips that allow young people to discover and experience Cyprus together.

🌍 INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE
Creating opportunities for young people and peacebuilders to exchange experiences and expertise through Erasmus+, youth exchanges and other European programmes and partnerships.

🎙️ CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Promoting a narrative of peace by documenting experiences, stories and perspectives from different generations, creating a bridge between those who have worked for peace in the past and the young people who will shape Cyprus's future.

But these three pillars are only the beginning.

In the long term, CPN aspires to become a platform that can support peace initiatives beyond those it organises itself — providing space, connections, expertise and, where possible, financial support to initiatives developed by individuals, groups and other organisations.

We believe that peacebuilding should not belong to one organisation, one community or one sector.

There are organisations across Cyprus working in culture, education, environment, youth, human rights, social justice, community development and many other fields. Many of them already possess valuable experience, networks, knowledge and infrastructure that can contribute to peacebuilding, even when peacebuilding is not their primary focus.

CPN wants to help connect these efforts.

Our ambition is to collaborate with diverse organisations and individuals across the island, bring existing and new peace initiatives closer together, learn from the experience of Cyprus's civil society, and create opportunities for more people to contribute to peace and reconciliation.

And at the centre of this vision is a new generation.

We want young people to learn from the generations that came before them, to understand the experiences that shaped Cyprus, and then to develop their own ideas and initiatives for the future.

Because building peace is not the responsibility of one generation.

It is a shared responsibility — and CPN wants to create the platform where we can act on it together.

Cyprus Peacebuilders Network
Connecting people. Supporting action. Building peace.