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Adelaide Student Proposes Engagement of Women in Cyprus Problem

Adelaide University undergraduate Catriona Standfield will fly to Cyprus next month to meet UN negotiators and present her ideas on ways that peace can be achieved on the divided island.

Former foreign minister and now UN peace envoy Alexander Downer will accompany Ms Standfield to Cyprus.

Ms Standfield, 23, was invited to visit Cyprus with Mr Downer after completing an internship with him as part of her degree, drafting a report on the importance of including Cypriot women in the peacekeeping negotiations.

Mr Downer said Ms Standfield’s research could potentially change how the UN approaches the engagement of women.”Her work has very much impressed the UN, and it’s their view there’s virtue in this outstanding student coming and joining the UN team in Cyprus for a couple of weeks,” he said.

“Engaging in this dialogue with the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots in this peace process run by the UN will not only help the UN fulfil its obligations to the Security Council, but it will hopefully be the catalyst for some more creative thinking by the Cypriots on what they should do to address gender issues in the peace process.”

Mr Downer said the Turkish army occupied 37 per cent of the island and the challenge was to reunify Cyprus after 37 years of failed negotiations. Ms Standfield said she had established a strong evidence base for having women involved in negotiations.

But in travelling to a traditional patriarchal society and meeting primarily with older males, she recognised it would be a tough sell to the Cypriots.

Mr Downer said involving young people in international affairs was critical to making the UN more effective.”It’s very easy to criticise the UN, but what’s difficult is reforming it and making it more relevant. If you can get young people involved in an early stage, it gives a lot of hope for the UN, he concluded.

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