Our News

Cyprus Girls Can as a partner in the Erasmus+ project 'Sport for Gender Equity' is organising an online workshop to discuss gendered body stereotyping and body shaming in sports. 

The purpose of the workshop is to  provide skills and knowledge in order to understand gender and body stereotyping and promoting gender equity through acceptance of body and gender in the field of sport and everyday life.

Learning objectives:

• To understand the reasons that create body stereotyping depended on gender, showcase the pressure on women’s bodies and the body shaming culture;

• To share tools and best practices on how to foster empowerment to women and acceptance of their bodies through sports; 

• To share tools and best practices on how to address and combat this inequality through sports, foster engagement of men, women and sport professionals and create a safe place for women; 

• To develop key competences of participants on understanding signs of body shaming culture on others and themselves and learn how to stop them;

Cyprus Girls Can as a partner in the Erasmus+ project 'Sport for Gender Equity' is co-organising a workshop to discuss the role of women in sea sports. Our workshop 'Women 4 the sea and vice versa', will take place within the dialogue event of the programme 'Youth 4 the sea and vice versa' which Active Zone Outdoor is organizing!

The purpose of the workshop is to foster the youth workers and sports professionals with skills and knowledge in order to empower women participation in society through sea sports.

Learning objectives:

• To provide participants with information and knowledge about the reasons why women are not so engaged in social life and sports;

• To develop skills on how to overcome barriers through sea sports and support women to participate more in society;

• To exchange tools and best practices on how to reinforce women to be active in society through sea sports (sailing, windsurfing, kayak); 

• To develop key competences of participants in relation to sports as a tool for social inclusion;

Cyprus Girls Can is a partner in the Erasmus+ project 'Sport for Gender Equity' along with other participants from Italy, Spain, Ireland and Polland. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic the plans have been delayed but we have managed to work online wherever it is possible. 
Within the project's context we had the chance to discuss through videocalls with valuable future collaborators such as the Cyprus Sailing Federation and the Peace Players. Amongst other topics we talked about the barriers that women face in Cyprus in regards with sport and how we can use it as a tool to empower women and promote gender equity! 

In 2020 due to the Convid 19 pandemic, we won’t be able to celebrate the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace on April 6th with any kind of public activities.
This year we #stayathome, but we invite you to continue, spreading the word through Social Media regarding the importance of sport in fostering social inclusion, reducing inequalities, fighting any kind of discrimination, promoting sustainable communities and to now more than ever support climate action, as well as to learn more about the much related principles of health and wellbeing for all!
Cyprus Girls Can joins other civil society organizations to celebrate this day online! Follow the FB event here, and share your message of unity as a contribution to the cause. Don’t let anything prevent us from celebrating #SportforChange on April 6th 2020!

Thanks to a joint effort by the Australian High Commission and Cyprus Girls Can, this coming Sunday sees an event to encourage women of all ages to try out Women’s Touch Rugby.

​

“Touch Rugby is great fun to play and hugely popular in Australia,” says Natalie Christopher of Cyprus Girls Can, a campaign which encourages women and girls to become more active.

​

Today history was made with a highly symbolical Friendly Football match, which took place in Pyla, organised by @Peace and Sport and the @Stelios Philanthropic campaign with the support of @UNFICYP.

Sport is a universal language. Today the diplomatic power of sport was celebrated with a match between Nea Salamina Ammochostou Football Club and Magusa Turk Gucu Football Club player.

​

We don't need to be blood relatives to feel like family!!

Politis.com.cy - Εφημερίδα Πολίτης article on how groups like Cyprus Girls Can, can make people come together and feel connected through different activities that otherwise would have never tried.

​

​

Natalie, founder of Cyprus Girls Can was xtremely honoured to have been invited to speak at the United Nations Day reception, about the importance of youth and women in the Peace building process on our island.

​

She spoke alongside Turkish Cypriot friend Umay Erol Kutay who uses art to foster a culture of peace. She spoke about how we can use science and sport can bring people together. The perfect synergy!

We're delighted to have been nominated for a Peace and Sport award, in the Regional Peace through Sport Initiative category.

We're looking forward to the Peace and Sport Forum tomorrow, where there will be different sessions on the Role of Sport in Building Peaceful Communities, Networks and Regional Cooperation.

We're excited to spread the word of what the Cyprus Girls Can campaign does on an international level and to learn from others, so we can improve! 

Cyprus Girls Can has been nominated for the 2018 Peace and Sport Award in the Regional Peace-Through-Sport Initiative Of The Year category, for the work we do to bring women from all over Cyprus together through sport!

​

Winners will be announced during Peace and Sport Regional Forum in Rhodes on the 18th October! 

''Have you tried diving/ rock climbing/ kayaking/ beach volleyball/ acro yoga and all those exciting sports organised by Cyprus Girls Can? Well, check them out!!

And be sure to check out the interview with the role model of an ACTIVE CITIZEN, Natalie Christopher - astrophysicist, sportswoman, peace lover, cat lover AND the woman behind all the above. An interview by Christina Demetriades on MYCY Radio.

Cyprus Girls Can was privileged to be invited to the "Summer Rock'n'Roll Jam" hosted by the US Embassy Cyprus - an event for the youth of Cyprus to learn about local organisations on the island and to meet their representatives.

We had the opportunity to meet young women from all over Cyprus and explain to them what we do as a campaign. We thank the US embassy for helping support youth in Cyprus!

April 6 was declared the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace by the United Nation General Assembly in 2013. With the support of the International Olympic Committee, this special day has been celebrated each year ever since 2014. To celebrate this day, Cyprus Girls Can hosted several sports activities in the five fingers mountains!

We practised yoga under the trees, we explored the trails on mountain bikes and came up close with the stunning five fingers rocky outcrop! We ran along technical single tracks, up and down the mountains, enjoying the sea view and exploring the Sourp Magar monastery along the way!

​

Natalie from Cyprus Girls Can chats with Saskia Constantinou on PIK Classic about the campaign -- how we encourage women and girls of all ages, all across Cyprus, to get active and involved in sport, regardless of their ability.

We also discuss how sport is a great way to bring people together and how we use this to help promote peace on our divided island of Cyprus.

Joining us was the inspirational Memnia Theodorou, who has sailed all the way from the UK to Australia and is a true motivation for getting out of your comfort zone and following your dreams!

The interview was made the day before our events to celebrate the International Day of Sport for Peace and Development:

Sports Day: International Day of Sports for Development & Peace!

​​

The International Women's Day 2018 campaign theme is #PressforProgress. Now, more than ever, there's a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity. There's a strong call to #PressforProgress motivating and uniting friends, colleagues and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive.

How will you #PressforProgress? You choose!

- Maintaining a gender parity mindset - Challenging stereotypes and bias

- Forging positive visibility of women - Influencing others' beliefs / actions

- Celebrating women's achievements

​

Cyprus Girls Can was delighted to be nominated for the #BeInclusive EU Sport Awards in 2017!

As explained on the European Commission's website:

"Sport is fun, exciting and it brings people together. Sport is also based on fairness and respect – regardless of who you are and where you come from.

This makes it a powerful tool for breaking barriers and building a more inclusive society.

The European Commission #BeInclusive EU Sport Awards will recognise organisations using the power of sport to increase social inclusion."

​