Guterres stresses the essential role of civil society

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres met with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot civil society representatives, together with senior members of his delegation, including Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Rosemary DiCarlo, María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar and Khassim Diagne.

The meeting brought together representatives from peacebuilding organisations, women’s and youth groups, trade unions, business associations, policy organisations, environmental initiatives and other civic actors from both communities.

In his opening remarks, the Secretary-General underlined the importance of continuous communication between civil society and political leadership. Drawing on his own experience in government, he noted that engagement with civil society can help political decision-makers avoid mistakes and make better-informed choices.

He expressed the hope that civil society would contribute to creating the conditions necessary for the political leadership to overcome existing difficulties and move towards a solution. He also highlighted the growing urgency of resolving the Cyprus problem in an increasingly complex regional and geopolitical environment.

The Secretary-General stated that he had come primarily to listen and affirmed his support for the contribution of civil society.

Participants raised a broad range of issues, including the need to preserve previous convergences and the Secretary-General’s six-point framework; ensure the meaningful participation of women, young people and civil society; improve transparency and public information; strengthen bicommunal cooperation; and promote confidence-building measures.

The Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Center (CPDC) welcomes the Secretary-General’s recognition that meaningful and sustained interaction between civil society and political leadership can strengthen decision-making and help create the societal conditions necessary for progress.

A lasting settlement requires public involvement and support. Citizens should not be approached only after a comprehensive agreement has been reached. They should be meaningfully engaged while the settlement and the process leading to it are being developed, so that they can understand the dilemmas involved, consider the necessary trade-offs and contribute constructively to a shared future.

Successive failed processes have demonstrated the limitations of a predominantly top-down and leader-led methodology. A renewed process should therefore be more inclusive, transparent and results-oriented, while preserving the responsibility and authority of the leaders and formal negotiators.

In this context, the agreement of the two leaders to establish a Consultative Body for civic engagement represents an important opportunity to transform the Secretary-General’s call for continuous communication into a structured and sustainable mechanism.

The priority should now be to activate the Consultative Body and connect it meaningfully with the formal peace process. Operating alongside the negotiations, it could provide a regular channel for civic and citizen input, contribute ideas and informed feedback, build trust within and between the two communities, and support the leaders in addressing difficult and sensitive choices.

Meaningful inclusion requires the involvement of representative and randomly selected citizens, supported by balanced information, expert input and professional facilitation.

CPDC’s Civic Assemlies initiative has already begun establishing practical groundwork for this approach. Through focus groups, mono-communal mini-assemblies and technology-assisted deliberation, the initiative has been testing how citizens can engage with complex public questions, consider different perspectives and develop informed recommendations.

CPDC submitted a written letter to the Secretary-General calling for the prompt activation of the Consultative Body and emphasising that meaningful civic participation should become part of a broader, more inclusive and effective peace-process methodology.

In his closing reflections, the Secretary-General observed that many of the ideas presented during the meeting appeared to be matters of common sense, while acknowledging that translating reasonable proposals into workable political solutions is often extremely difficult.

He stated that he had learned from the exchange and recognised a strong desire for a solution and for all Cypriots to participate in and benefit from the process. He encouraged civil society to continue its complex but essential interaction with political leaders, noting that such engagement can ultimately contribute to better decisions.

CPDC remains ready to share the lessons emerging from its pilot work and to support efforts to turn civic participation from an occasional consultation into a structured and meaningful component of a renewed Cyprus peace process.

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