Hold My Hand CY

30/09/2026

Our She Builds digital literacy and entrepreneurship program at Kofinou first reception center continues! 💜

Over the past two weeks, we have been working on the final parts of the business planning module. We explored what growth could look like for each participant and who their ideal partners might be.

We also practiced using the Business Model Canvas, looking at each business idea from a holistic and realistic perspective and thinking about how all the different parts come together.

The journey of She Builds has been amazing so far. Every session brings new questions, discussions, and insights from the women in the room, making each conversation a little richer. 💜

Hold My Hand is a refugee women-led organisation, we empower women in displacement through education and advocacy. 💜

15/09/2026

Our She Builds digital literacy and entrepreneurship program at Kofinou first reception center continues! 💜

We have been exploring pricing strategies for startups, weighing costs vs. profits.

Our program facilitator Noon brings over 25 years of experience in business development. With so much to explore we had a session packed with questions, and insightful discussions!

Hold My Hand is a refugee women-led organisation, we empower women in displacement through education and advocacy. 💜

07/09/2026

We’re back in action! 💜

After a good summer break to rest, recharge, and reset, our She Builds program is back, and we couldn’t be more excited to continue!

Our first workshop after the summer break was all about pricing. 💰

What is your product or service really worth? How do you decide what to charge? And how can you make sure your price covers your costs while also allowing your business to make a profit?

We moved from theory to hands-on activities, working through different examples and exercises to help participants understand costs, set prices, and start building their own pricing strategies.

Because pricing isn’t just about putting a number on a product or service, it’s an important part of building a sustainable business. 💡

Over the next few weeks, we’ll continue exploring different topics around business development, building knowledge and practical skills along the way.

She Builds is a digital literacy and entrepreneurship program we’re running at 📍Kofinou Reception Centre for women, from May to November 2026.

15/08/2026

Our latest contribution, shared at “From Barriers to Bridges,” a multi-stakeholder roundtable on fair employment for migrant and refugee communities in Cyprus, was featured in today’s edition of Phileleftheros.

Our recommendations focus on women’s safety, privacy, and creating safer ways for migrant and refugee women to report violence and abuse.

Here are excerpts from the article and our recommendations:

“Incidents of violence and abuse against migrant and refugee women” were mentioned by Lama Swas, executive director of the organization “Hold My Hand CY” run by refugee women. She said that these incidents “are not reported due to fear of revealing their identity or losing their job, housing or the outcome of a legal case” and suggested “the display of options for anonymous reporting on official websites, with a clear indication that the identity of the individual will not be revealed”. She also proposed “the obligation of employers, through unions, to inform staff of their rights and to post this information in the workplace, especially in high-risk sectors. Given – she added – that many women still do not file a complaint, this measure both shifts the responsibility to employers and adds a layer of protection”.

07/08/2026

We are happy to share that we are a member of the Anna Lindh Foundation Cyprus Network 🥳💜

🌍✨We warmly welcome our new network members Hold MY Hand CY, Fashion Heritage Network Cyprus, and Ephemera Collective to the Anna Lindh Foundation Cyprus Network!

🤝 MY Hand CY is a refugee-women-led non-profit organisation based in Nicosia, Cyprus, founded in 2024. Led by a small team combining lived experience of displacement with expertise in science communication, community development, strategic planning, and marketing, the organisation works to expand access to skills, knowledge, opportunities, and community for women in displacement. Through programmes, advocacy, public awareness initiatives, and content creation, it amplifies the voices and expertise of displaced women in Cyprus and beyond.

🧵Fashion Heritage Network Cyprus (FHNC) is a bi-communal non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and reimagining Cyprus' fashion and textile heritage. Bringing together designers, researchers, cultural practitioners, and local communities, FHNC explores fashion as a living expression of cultural identity and collective memory. Through public programmes, community events, digital content, and cross-sector collaborations, it fosters dialogue between heritage and contemporary creativity while promoting sustainable approaches to fashion and the island's rich textile traditions.

🎨Ephemera Collective is a Cyprus-based non-profit collective founded in 2025, working at the intersection of art, community, and ecology. Through long-term collaborative projects, the collective creates spaces for learning, artistic experimentation, and ecological engagement. Currently operating on a voluntary basis, Ephemera Collective is developing a cultural hub in Analyontas while working towards the implementation of its first Erasmus+ and CERV projects to support its long-term vision.

🌍 Interested in becoming part of our growing network?

🔗Join us: https://alf.website/en/join-our-network/

02/08/2026

Our website is live 💜

And here's where to find us: www.holdmyhandcy.org 🏠

We are a nonprofit refugee women-led grassroots organisation based in Nicosia, Cyprus, working to empower women in displacement through education and advocacy 🌱.

On our website, you can meet our amazing team 👥, learn who we are and read the story behind Hold My Hand, and explore our work and projects, including our current digital literacy and entrepreneurship programme 💻. And keep an eye out for our newsletter and subscribe. It's launching soon! ✉️

We are so excited about the work we are doing and will do, and we hope you, our supporters, are too! 💜

01/08/2026

On Thursday, we took part in “From Barriers to Bridges: Advancing Fair Employment for Migrant Communities in Cyprus,” a multi-stakeholder roundtable organised by Step Up Stop Slavery, alongside ministries, trade unions, and the European Commission Representation in Cyprus 👥.

🎤 Our Executive Director Lama Swas spoke about the realities refugee and asylum-seeking women face in the labour market:
- Asylum seekers spend years waiting for a decision, restricted to a narrow list of sectors. Yet data from the EURES Employment Services Report 2025 show that Cyprus is short in 63 occupations, from nurses and midwives to IT professionals and accountants. The refugee reception centre is full of pharmacists, teachers, and business owners the country says it needs but will not hire
- Restricting people to physical work that is not designed for everybody and every circumstance is not just a limitation; it is a driver of exploitation
- Recognition on paper is not access in practice. Refugees who gain the right to work in any sector are given no pathway back to their qualifications: no guidance, no accreditation support, no starting point
- Childcare determines everything. Without it, shift work is impossible, and refugee women face this nationwide problem with zero support
- Housing discrimination pushes women into accommodation tied to their jobs. When the employer is also the landlord, reporting violence means risking your income and your home in the same moment.

In the closing session on integration, Lama presented our digital literacy and entrepreneurship programme at the refugee reception centre, stressing that integration starts from day one 🌱. People in reception centres should have access to employment information from the very beginning. This is a systemic gap that we are filling through our programme.

We closed with an invitation to the Ministries of Migration, Justice, and Labour to include refugee-led organisations in policy, echoing what they themselves said: “migrant- and refugee-led organisations are an essential part of shaping policy”.💜

08/07/2026

Our She Builds program continues! 💜

In our last session we discussed customer segmentation and unique value proposition.

We also wanted to share real-life inspiration from other refugee women entrepreneurs. We watched Razan Al Sous ‘s story, a Syrian refugee who built a halloumi factory in the UK from scratch, after finding a gap in the market.

Examples like this give motivation and show that displacement doesn’t have to end our goals, it might just shift them to fit a different reality. That was one of our takeaways for this session.

She Builds is a digital literacy and entrepreneurship program we’re running at 📍Kofinou Reception Centre for women, from May to November 2026.

26/06/2026

Yesterday, we took part in a roundtable discussion on violence against refugee and migrant women in Cyprus, co-organised by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies MIGS and UNHCR Cyprus.

Our Executive Director Lama Swas spoke about the compounded realities facing women in displacement, and specifically women living at Kofinou Reception Centre:

• Women living at Kofinou Reception Centre face compounded isolation, carrying the weight of caregiving alone, with little space beyond survival
• A refugee woman has to try ten times harder than others to reach the same social, professional, or financial position, due to the added layer of displacement
• Gender-based violence is not taken seriously, even when women are willing to come forward and report it
• When institutions are absent or slow, community and peer support are not a supplement. They are often the only thing that works
• Most programmes are designed top-down, by people with no lived experience of displacement, and rarely reflect what women in this situation actually need

Based on what we heard and what we know from our own work, our recommendations to organisations and policymakers were clear:

• Plan with refugee women, not for them
• Scan for needs before designing programmes, not after
• Build safe and accessible pathways for women to report gender-based violence, supported by trained staff who can guide them through the process
• Stop framing vulnerability as a fixed state. The goal is to work toward women leaving that state, not managing them within it
• Involve refugee women in the design, delivery, and evaluation of every programme that affects them

Refugee-women-led organisations must have a seat at the table, not as guests, but as leaders. When we talk about refugee women, refugee women must be in the room. When decisions are made that affect our lives, we must be part of making them.

20/06/2026

Today is World Refugee Day 💜

Women in displacement are challenged every single day. By systems, by stereotypes, by policies that exclude them, by life circumstances that changed overnight. They divide themselves between survival, family, and their own ambitions, facing so much with so little support.

And still, they build. Still, they dream. Still, they lead.

We ask you to open your mind and see them as equals. As courageous. As determined. As mothers, as leaders, as dreamers, just like anyone else.

Displacement adds a layer of challenges that most people will never have to face. Women in displacement are already doing twice as much as anyone else just to keep their lives together.

Remember their courage today. And every day. 💜