Center for Gender Equality and History (KIIF)

National Network
Cyprus
Address

Riga Feraiou 26
Apartment 301
1087 Nicosia
Cyprus

Telephone
00357 99293800
E-Mail
thekla.kyritsi@kiif.com.cy
Organisation Type
Non-Governmental Organization
Year of Establishment
2017
Fields of Activity
  1. Gender
General Information

Center for Gender Equality & History (KIIF) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 2017 with the aim to promote research-based knowledge and action for gender equality. Main sources of funding during the three years of our existence have been grants earned by the Erasmus+ Programme, and by national agents such as the Research and Innovation Foundation. Our activities vary from research and education to one-off events, forming policy recommendations through structured dialogue, empowering communities, and building synergies/networks. We are also interested in integrating arts, culture, and creativity, into our work, as well as exploring story-telling as a tool/methodology for connection, empowerment and reflection. KIIF is governed by an annual General Meeting of its members which elects a Board of Directors consisting of nine volunteer members. At this stage, the permanent personnel (paid staff) consists of two persons, a scientific Director of the Center and a Project Coordinator - Researcher.

Mission and Objectives

KIIF aims to promote research-based knowledge and action for gender equality, including women and LGBTQI+ rights, following the principles of inclusiveness, mutual respect, and dialogue. KIIF’s approach puts emphasis on the empowerment of women, men and all genders to play a positive role as individual and social actors towards a global society of inclusion, equality, peace, and democracy. The special emphasis on history, as a separate pylon of KIIF's activity, derives from the depressing invisibility of gender and women’s history in Cyprus, and from understanding that stories, memories and narratives are part of one’s individual and collective present. KIIF’s aspiration is to help gendered and women's stories and voices to be heard and used as tools towards empowerment and reflection. The aim is to advance our understanding of the present of gender relations and contribute to the shaping of the future by better understanding the roots of patriarchy, homophobia, gender hierarchies etc.

Main Projects / Activities

The main forms of activities organized by the Center for Gender Equality and History (KIIF) include scientific research on gender issues, educational projects, one-off events, workshops, structured dialogue, forming policy recommendations, empowering communities, and building synergies and networks between communities. We are also interested in integrating arts, culture, and creativity, into our work as well as exploring methodologies of story-telling as a tool for connection, empowerment and reflection. Some of our large-scale projects include the making of an online, open archive on the modern and contemporary history of Cypriot women (www.clioforgender.com); the development of an online educational toolkit on gender education targeting teenage boys (https://geducyprusplatform.com); and a structured dialogue youth project for gender equality in the family (https://kiif.com.cy/the-young-for-gender-equality-in-the-family-the-importance-of-the-state-and-the-social-institutions/). 

Contact (1) Full Name
Thekla Kyritsi
Job Title
Director
Head of the organisation
Thekla Kyritsi (Director)
Contact (2) Full Name
Magdalene Antreou