On Saturday, May 5, 2007, under the auspices of Embassy Nicosia's Bicommunal Support Program (BSP), Public Agenda, the New York-based NGO co-founded in 1975 by social scientist Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, held a workshop on Community and Stakeholder Engagement Strategies for Success for Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot organizations taking part in the BSP-sponsored anti-trafficking capacity building program.

 

The workshop focused on basic guidelines for engagement and avoiding frequently seen mistakes. It reviewed three major strategies for engagement: focus groups, stakeholder dialogues, and community forums, and analyzed case studies from successful engagement efforts. Participants enjoyed a high level discussion on next steps in community and stakeholder engagement on the issue of trafficking, and emphasized the importance of follow-on workshops and training.