About Us

My name is Ismini Georgia Dionysiou. I am currently in my 3rd year as an LLB student at UCLan Cyprus. From a young age I was interested in conducting research on issues such as human rights, inequality, injustice in the law, racism, women's rights, and the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. This ultimately led me to discover the law's power to shape society and its crucial role in seeking justice and addressing injustice. This early interest led me to pursue a law degree and is what keeps me motivated in my studies and extra-curricular activities. I am a strong believer that knowledge is power and that is why I strive to educate myself on different matters and different viewpoints on issues not only regarding Cyprus and the European Union but also beyond these borders. My goal is ultimately to give voice to people that don’t have it, help in addressing flaws in the legal system that failed people throughout history, and spread awareness on subjects that people usually overlook. 

My name is Bilean Beraki, a second year student in the LLB program at the University of Central Lancashire Cyprus. I joined ICLAIM for a number of reasons . While my academic journey began within the classroom, my interests have gravitated towards the real world manifestation of the law. While previously participating in Model United Nations in Kenya as an ambassador, I gained a global perspective and awareness of international issues. Through this opportunity I got the chance to foster my mediation skills, analyse complex legal issues and embark on extensive research on variety of topics with a particular interest in Human Rights. My inclination to help people has extended to my internships and volunteer work in hospitals and community clean ups in Kenya during my summers there. The UCLan Cyprus LLB program awarded me the chance to participate in the internal Moot competition and expand my legal knowledge in Contract law, EU law and the unique position of Cyprus and the laws governing its jurisdictions. ICLAIM’s aim of working bi - communally is the main reason I joined, to be able to expand my knowledge on dispute resolution methods. I am constantly seeking ways to connect my academic learnings with practical situations.

Joya Lahoud is a second-year law student at the University of Central Lancashire – Cyprus (UCLan Cyprus). She joined the Social Mediators’ Network in March 2021, and since then she has been one of the network’s most active members. She has participated in several workshops, whereas she has also organised a series of three webinars introducing Social Mediation in Lebanon. She has been an intern at ICLAIM since January 2022.

Zora Kizilyurek graduated from BPP University-London with an LLB in 2018 and a Law Equivalency Degree from Istanbul University in 2020. She has recently completed a Master of Laws (LLM) course at the University of Central Lancashire – Cyprus (UCLan Cyprus), where she focused on International Security and International Business Law.

Zora’s areas of interest include international commercial law, alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation, arbitration, and med-arb. Her research also partly focused on human trafficking in Cyprus. During her LLM, she assisted both the UCLan Cyprus School of Law and ICLAIM with their day-to-day activities, offering support in the implementation of applied research projects, participating in the writing of project bids, and assisting Prof. Stephanie Laulhé Shaelou, the Head of the Law School and ICLAIM founder, in liaising with potential partners.

She is trained both as a mediator and a social mediator, while she is also a member of ICLAIM’s Social Mediators Network. Currently, she is doing her legal traineeship for the Istanbul Bar Association and a mediation internship at Essentials Mediation Solutions. Between 2016 and 2020, she facilitated EU-funded programmes in Cyprus, focusing on sustainability and cultural heritage, and worked with ex-offenders in London to support their reintegration into society.

My name is Kateryna Shabanova. I am originally from Ukraine but currently residing in Cyprus. I successfully obtained a Bachelor Degree in Law at the University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus this summer. Currently I am a post-graduate student studying Law continuing my journey at UCLan Cyprus. At ICLAIM, my main focus is communication strategy and social outreach.

My journey in legal academia started with a desire to explore the legal dimension of the environmental crisis and animal exploitation. To this day I am extremely passionate about learning how to implement sustainability and cruelty-free principles through legal action. The more knowledge I acquired, the more attention I wanted to give to other areas of law such as human rights. Today, the main focus of my independent research and studies is on women’s rights and environmentalism and inequality that stands behind it.
My future goals include spreading the awareness regarding those issues because I truly believe that informed means armed. Therefore, I plan to pursue an academic path of the legal career and start teaching human rights. Knowledge is enlightenment.

My name is Anastasios Andreou and I am the Strategy and Communication Officer of ICLAIM. I am currently a first year student at UCLan, undertaking the LLB course. I have been involved as an intern in ICLAIM for several reasons. Most importantly, because as an individual, I believe that I can contribute to the achievement of this non- profit organisation’s objectives. I am a graduate of the American Academy Larnaca, where the values of respect and provision of services to the community are embodied in the school’s moto “to grow and to serve.” Accordingly, under the membership of several school clubs, I had the chance to visit and provide humanitarian aid to the Kofinou refugee camp and to an institution for children with disabilities. Adding to the above, my participation to a school club associated with disabled people and the aspect of sports, gave me the opportunity to give speeches regarding equality and fairness in sports. I have also been a member of a non-profit foundation called ‘Walking with Elena’, which aims at raising money for disabled people, as a gesture of sensitizing people for the affair of Human Rights. Through those experiences, I believe that I became familiar with minority groups and I am therefore better able to address problematic areas around them.

My name is Daniela Amura and I am an LLB student at the University of Central Lancashire Cyprus. Throughout the past academic year, I have devoted a lot of time in expanding my knowledge on the major issues plaguing various societies in the world. My observations of disputes, occurring in different countries and contexts and in particular, the ramifications these disputes can have on innocent victims of these conflicts have ignited my interest in the study of dispute resolution. I have undertaken educational programs which encourage the distribution of cultural awareness, while closely working with interested individuals. In the process, I have also privately initiated introductory Arabic and English language courses, with the aim of getting a better understanding of the different challenges of integration. I have interacted mainly with children and young people, who are either voluntarily engaged in such activities, or who are in underprivileged conditions. I have also worked as a liaison officer for the European Council in Cyprus.

My name is Toni Vaneva Toncheva, following my participation in a “Human Rights Education” workshop organized by the non-governmental organization Aequitas to promote and create a just society, I decided to join ICLAIM to further observe and develop my knowledge on dispute resolution methods. In addition, I have aimed to further expand my knowledge on the matter by attending guest lectures given by notable speakers which are organized by the University of Central Lancashire (Cyprus), where I am currently a law student. My experience includes an internship at Rolesa, a legal education organization which has allowed me to develop my interpersonal skills. In addition, I have attended training courses on mediation which have assisted me in expanding my knowledge on legal issues such as the “European migrant crisis.

My name is Yomna Zentani and I am a final year Bachelor of Laws student at the University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus (UCLan Cyprus). At ICLAIM, I assist in the administration of ICLAIM’s ADR Entity for Consumer Disputes and in research being conducted on the legal and regulatory framework for consumer protection in Cyprus.

I have developed a keen interest and acquired extensive knowledge on alternative dispute resolution methods (ADR) through different curricular and extra-curricular opportunities during my university studies. Through my module electives at university such as Consumer Law, I have gained a solid understanding of the business-consumer relationship. I was then able to explore this relationship further through a critical analysis of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and whether it provides adequate protection to consumers in the UK. Through my participation in the 24th and 25th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot as a UCLan Cyprus team member undertaking independent research, I was able to enrich my knowledge, obtain first-hand experience and fully appreciate the practical significance of ADR methods in an international sale of goods dispute. To further cultivate my knowledge on ADR, I have attended intensive student courses offered by the university and have volunteered as a student participant in professional courses; the most recent has been a course on the drafting of international arbitral awards.

My name is Antonia Michailidi and I am 21 years old, I am currently studying Law at the University of Central Lancashire and I am completing the Leading Change online course by the University of Cambridge. I will start my LLM in International Commercial and Corporate Law at the University of Maastricht in September of 2018. I am currently working as an EU Careers Ambassador, and I regularly travel to Brussels for training sessions and team meetings. I have been working with the European Commission and the European Personnel Selection office for about six months now. I have served as a Student Ambassador for the Cypriot Branch of the International Law Association. Also, I have worked as a Legal Trainee in AIAEM, an International Law firm in Madrid and at the Lellos P. Demetriades Law Office LLC in Cyprus. As a trainee, the tasks that I had to perform were to research laws and jurisprudence, studying the theory and applying it to legal cases given to me. I was also able to propose my personal opinion on solutions regarding cases the firms were dealing with and draft legal documents. In addition I was able to shadow several lawyers both in meetings and at the court. I am a co-founder of the Humanitarian Aid Program which is a non-governmental organisation that aims to improve the living conditions of refugees and the less-privileged in Cyprus. I am also a Volunteer/Translator for the organization One Woman at a Time, which assist abused women in Cyprus to bring a case against their abusers to the court. Because of the contributions I have made to my community, I have been awarded as a Queen’s Young Leader for Cyprus in 2018.

My name is Charalambos Christodoulou and I have completed my LLB in law at the University of Nicosia and graduated in 2017 and I am now a LLB student at the University of central Lancashire (Uclan) Cyprus, specialising in Financial and Commercial law, and I am expected to graduate in 2018. While I was at the University of Nicosia I was helping one of my professors with law related tasks amongst other things. In addition I have done voluntary work for an AIDS campaign in South Africa to raise awareness of the virus and the effects it has. I am currently an intern at ICLAIM in Uclan Cyprus, I am working on building a user friendly platform for consumers when they have a dispute with their traders and ways in which the dispute can be solved without the need for formal legal proceedings and court appearances, and this is affectively an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) platform for consumers.

My name is Machi Taifour, I’m 19 years old, as a child I always wanted to become a lawyer, just so I could help people. When you become lawyer, you have the power to help people, using nothing but your mind. Right now, I am a second Year LLB student at UCLan Cyprus. Studying Law has helped me understand what our society is about, how it runs, what its rules are, how politics are involved, and how the individual person is affected by all that. For the past year, I have been interning at a probate firm. This has not only expanded my legal knowledge but has also led me to realise that I want to follow a legal career in family law and mediation. I am also interested in Human Rights, and have therefore been interning at The Commissioner of Children’s Rights in Cyprus office, since I was 17, this had lead to me realize what gaps there are in the Current Law, and what me, as an individual can do to help.

I am the co-founder of the Humanitarian Aid Program (HAP), which for the past year has focused on helping refugees within Cyprus by collecting donations and spreading awareness about the ongoing refugee crisis via social media. Accordingly, working with the organization has enabled me to develop the skill of effectively communicating with both the refugees and the staff by maintaining a significant degree of impartiality. Likewise, being fluent in Arabic was an advantage since it made it easier to reach an understanding with the refugees, which places me in the position of undertaking effective mediation processes within the refugee community. Additionally, I acquired and developed public speaking skills, communication and negotiation skills by participating in the mooting competitions of Uclan and taking part of the 24th and 25th Vis-moot competitions. I undertook Internships at the Michaelides & Zavallis LLC (2015) and at Mukhtar, Kelbash & Elgharabli Attorneys (2017) whereby; I gained advocacy skills by training on various legal matters and procedures. Taking part of this project would enhance my knowledge on mediation, which I could then introduce and implement within my hometown Libya, where mediation is not as popular. Furthermore, mediation could limit the ‘compensation culture’ within several of countries.

My name is Oluwatodimu Bankole (Todi). I am a certified human rights trainer and also a co-founder of the Humanitarian Aid Program which is an organisation that raises donations for refugees on a large scale. Accordingly, I am a human rights activist for the No Hate Speech Movement which is a campaign founded by the youth sector of the Council of Europe to tackle hate speech and enhance human rights education. As an activist, I develop effective and non-violent tools such as bookmarks, which contain counter-narratives and alternative narratives that can be used to combat hate speech. Also, I develop mechanisms by which people can be educated on how to effectively use these narratives and methods within their organisations and communities. Previously, I have worked as a child counsellor to vulnerable children in Nigeria and a co-opted protection officer of children and vulnerable adults in Cyprus. Furthermore, I briefly worked as a board member with the African Chapter of Jobs without Borders which required me direct the ambassadors and volunteers on how to give humanitarian assistance to youths in Africa. In addition, I worked as a collaborator with One Woman At A Time (OWAAT) to help victims of sex trafficking from Nigeria to Italy. I currently work as a volunteer social worker for refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers. Also, I work as the Cyprus Ambassador and Correspondent of the OLBIOS Network for Action and, I assist in teaching basic English language to refugees and asylum seekers in order to help with their integration into the society.