Our two main goals this year are to expand into new areas in Cyprus and to build sustained dialogues with local communities in Turkey.

We are developing a citizen journalist program in Cyprus to provide training for youth that want to facilitate dialogue and cross-cultural interaction between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. Individual citizens have the potential to use digital media to reach others and broadcast their message to a wide audience. The program will take place the end of May in Cyprus and encourage individuals to promote peaceful relations between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots.

We are exploring potential environmental programs in Cyprus as well. There are many environmental NGOs in Cyprus trying to preserve the island’s natural ecosystem and promote sustainability. We are organizing a program to bring NGO workers from Cyprus to visit U.S. environmental organizations to learn best practices and to learn how to manage conflict arising from environmental problems.

We are also looking at ways in which we can build stronger bridges with local communities and potential partner organizations in Turkey. Our experiences thus far have convinced us that sustained dialogue is very important to prioritize the types of programs that we implement. Local needs shift and we discover new needs when we continue to listen to our partners and graduates from previous programs.

There are two areas that we would like to expand: one, training local organizations to evaluate their programs and measure outcomes more effectively, and two, training local organizations on how to implement the frameworks and processes needed to improve transparency and prevent corruption.

English language training is always a priority for us because graduates consistently express the desire to learn English. We are planning an English language training program for the spring in Diyarbakir, Turkey.

HasNa has some very exciting plans for 2011 so make sure to check in with us to see how these programs unfold and what new program opportunities arise.