The EU Scholarship Programme for Cypriot Youth at UWC aims to build bridges of mutual understanding between Cypriot communities by providing Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot students with scholarships to attend a UWC school. The programme began with six scholarship students from the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities attending UWC Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) from 2020 to 2022. Since then, the EU-UWC partnership has provided 46 Cypriot students with scholarships to study at UWC schools in Europe and held a series of UWC short courses. Engagement and outreach events have successfully reached over 1000+ Cypriot young people on the island and introduced them to our unique UWC educational model.

Recent scholarship recipient, Liana Liu Ioannides (UWC Maastricht, 2021-2023), explains why she feels a UWC education has a pivotal role to play in finding long-term solutions to entrenched divisions:

The EU Scholarship Programme changed my life because it gave me the lifelong gift of an education offering both an interdisciplinary academic framework and life experiences, together with peers from other countries in conflict. Only after graduating from UWC and getting actively involved in peacebuilding efforts, have I realised that it takes both of these to find the courage to fight for systemic changes on my divided island and the world we are living in. 

In the six months since graduating, I have been representing bicommunal peacebuilding organisations, voicing my generation’s perspective on the conflict through opinion articles. I have led the Creating Friendships for Peace’s Alumni Association, as well as organising Cyprus and Middle-East-wide youth events, activities and conferences. Through my activism work, I have also met Cypriot and EU politicians, such as the Director of the Cyprus Settlement Support of the European Commission - all of which have helped me better understand how we can focus on the grassroots and political efforts for a much-needed resolution of our conflict. 

My journey was made possible by the synergy of my UWC education, the European Commission’s support and their active commitment to building bridges between Cypriot communities. As Alumni Ambassador of the EU Scholarship Programme, I have also been incredibly lucky to meet many students, parents and educators. Their overwhelmingly positive response to the scholarship programme, short courses and other bicommunal activities organised by UWC Cyprus, is a testament to how rooted our programme and movement is within youth and families, which form the foundation of our community and the basis of any lasting change. 

Growing up I could not help but resent the words ‘peace’ and ‘future’: flat and fragile promises in a world where armies guard the barbed wire and mediaeval walls tower between the two communities. However, my UWC experience has transformed the way I look at the conflict. For the first time, I appreciate the significance of our education in shaping our view of it. In understanding the power of growing together, I am learning to seek a future not defined by resentment, fear or political interests, but rather by our common identity as Cypriots. This is the power of the UWC movement, not only to carry forward ideals, but also to build bridges of understanding so that we can develop real, tangible roads to peace.  

The EU Scholarship Programme for Cypriot Youth at UWC is funded by the European Union. The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of UWC and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.