Month: October 2022

Hope for Children organisation on Monday said it has hosted during the past three years, 257 unaccompanied minors, in its ‘Home for Hope’ children’s shelter, offering them support during their transition to adulthood.

 

The humanitarian organisation said in a press release that the establishment of the children’s shelter was done with the approval and continuous cooperation of the Social Welfare Services and Cyprus’ Deputy Ministry of Welfare, and was co-financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund of the European Funds Unit (90%) and by the Republic of Cyprus (10%). In the context of the project and during its implementation period for the years 2019-2022, a total of 257 unaccompanied children have been accommodated and received services, it adds.

 

During these 34 months, it said, the children hosted there received psychosocial support and legal guidance services, while, as part of the integration efforts, the Organisation provided them with educational activities such as Greek, English, Music, Cooking and Physical Education classes. Special emphasis, it is noted, was also given to supporting children during their transition to adulthood, both to find employment and housing outside the children’s shelter, as well as by providing workshops for the development of social skills and empowerment.

 

With the completion of the said project for the years 2019-2022, the operation of the shelter continues, with funding from the Social Welfare Services of the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, it said.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus is among the first countries to adopt the “right to be forgotten” for cancer survivors, according to the Minister of Health, Michalis Hadjiantela, who talked at the “Race for the Cure”, an event in Nicosia, organised by Europa Donna, aiming to raise awareness for breast cancer.

 

“We reached an agreement on the right to be forgotten for people with cancer experience. Our country is among the first countries to adopt this inalienable right”, said the Minister of Health according to a written speech. The right to be forgotten is the right of every person with a cancer experience to move on with their lives without discrimination, having access to insurance coverage and financial facilities. The Minister said that more details regarding the agreement will be announced within the next few days.

 

Breast cancer, as the most common cancer in women, is a priority for the Ministry of Health, Hadjipantela noted, stating that the Ministry of Health promotes the continuous development and upgrading of the Population Program for Early Detection of Breast Cancer, taking seriously the recommendations of the European guidelines and the European Strategic Action Plan on Cancer. The Program was extended up to the age of 74, following a Cabinet decision, on September 30th, he said.

 

In addition, the mammograms of the Mammography Centers for all five Provinces were replaced with modern high-tech digital mammograms, which will continue to be subject to quality checks at regular intervals, said the Minister.

 

“Through the implementation of the program, many cases of early-stage cancer have been able to be completely cured. And this has a benefit for the individual, for the family and for society,” he noted.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Measures to tackle illegal immigration will be intensified, mainly through ways to prevent flows and through returns, Interior Minister Nicos Nouris said on Sunday.

 

Addressing a memorial service at Trachonas, in Nicosia district, the Minister also said that Turkey continues to undermine prospects for the resumption of negotiations, despite President Nicos Anastasiades’ ongoing efforts and initiatives to end the impasse. In addition to its provocations in the Aegean Sea, Nouris said that Ankara carries out provocative acts in Varosha and in the Republic of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone. Also in recent months, thousands of irregular migrants have been forwarded through the Green Line to the areas under the control of the Republic of Cyprus in a regular, systematic, and guided basis, effectively “colonising” them, as the Minister put it.

 

“As we did when we welcomed the Ukrainian immigrants, we are prepared to offer whatever help and support to those who genuinely need it. However, it must equally be known that we will be relentless with those who misuse our hospitality, particularly those troublemakers who disrupt both the lives of the citizens of this country and our infrastructure”, added the Interior Minister.

 

In his speech, Nouris also made reference to the position of the European Union (EU), which, based on a recent draft regulation from the European Commission, and for the first time recognizes officially the right of the Republic of Cyprus to stop the entry of unauthorised migrants through the Green Line, clarifying that the Green Line is not an external border.

 

The Interior Minister added that Cyprus requested particular criteria to be in place before granting €200 million in aid to Turkey at the last Council of Home Affairs, in Luxembourg, in order to stop the instrumentalisation of the migrant crisis.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Minister of the Interior, Nicos Nouris, will sign an agreement in Switzerland providing a financial contribution of €10 million to Cyprus for the management of migration flows. The Minister travels to Bern on Sunday.

 

According to a statement by the Ministry, during his visit, the Nouris will sign the agreement with Karin Keller-Sutter, the Swiss Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police.

 

The agreement will be signed by the Ministers on Monday noon and is part of the Swiss Support Mechanism for European countries that face an excessive migration burden.

 

During his stay in Bern, Nouris will also have a bilateral meeting with Keller-Sutter during which issues of common interest will be discussed, it is added. More bilateral meetings at experts’ level will take place to exchange views and best practices regarding asylum procedures.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus expresses its condolences to the Government and the people of South Korea, after the tragic death of more than 150 people in a stampede, during Halloween celebration on Saturday evening in Seoul.

 

“Shocked and saddened by the tragedy in Seoul where more than 150 people were killed while celebrating Halloween in Itaewon”, reads the Tweet by the Cyprus MFA.

 

It continues by expressing sincere condolences to victims’ families and wishes for speedy recovery to those injured. “Thoughts and prayers with the Government and people of South Korea”, it concludes.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

 

The Greek Cypriot side is any time ready to take part in talks for a Cyprus settlement, on the basis of the parameters set by the UN Secretary-General, in line with his mandate by the Security Council, Minister of Transport, Yiannis Karousos, said on Sunday, while recalling that this has been conveyed by Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, both in writing as well as in person to Antonio Guterres.

 

Addressing a memorial service in Troulloi, Larnaca, Karousos also said that Turkey’s proposal for two-state solution is unacceptable. The duty of the Cyprus government and of the President is to continue with efforts for a Cyprus settlement, within the framework of UN resolutions and EU values and principles, he added.

 

Ankara’s and the Turkish Cypriot regime’s “provocatively illegal and intransigent behavior” is taking another form, through the call for accepting a two-state solution as a precondition for the resumption of talks, Karousos went on.

 

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The majority of Cypriots are in favour of accelerating the green transition, with 76% responding that the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its consequences should provide an additional impetus (compared to 66% in the EU), according to the results of the latest annual climate survey by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which was conducted across the European Union in August and published this week.

 

Other findings in Cyprus include that 90% of Cypriots say that if consumption of energy and goods is not drastically reduced in the coming years the world will head to a global catastrophe, 65% said that they are in favour of indexing energy prices to the level of consumption per household and 60% said that they believe that highly polluting goods and services, such as sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and air travel, should be more expensive to account for their level of pollution.

 

According to a EIB press release, while COVID-19 was considered one of the biggest challenges facing Cypriots last year, concerns about inflation now predominate. 83% cite it as their top concern, compared with 36% across the rest of the European Union. However, 78% of Cypriots say they are feeling the effects of climate change on their daily lives.

 

About 89% of Cypriots feel that the government is reacting too slowly, and only 30% think that Cyprus will succeed in substantially reducing its carbon emissions by 2030.

 

Asked to rank their energy priorities, 70% responded that they expect their government to prioritise the development of renewable energies, before focusing on energy supply diversification to avoid being overly reliant on a single energy provider (21%).

 

Also, when it comes to measures to reduce energy consumption, 60% of Cypriots said that they are in favour of heavily taxing highly polluting goods and services, such as SUVs and air transport, while 65% said they support the indexing of energy prices to the level of consumption per household, that is the more you consume, the more expensive energy becomes.

 

However, if Cypriots were to lower the temperature in their homes this winter, only 4% said they would accept capping it at 19°C (24 percentage points less than the European average of 28%). Meanwhile, 42% of Cypriots say that they already cannot afford to heat their home properly.

 

Regarding measures against high energy prices, 37% of Cypriots think that in the short term the government should prioritise reducing energy-related taxes, 24% support capping or regulating the price of gas, oil and coal and 21% agree with giving out energy vouchers.

 

In a statement, the EIB’s vice president Lilyana Pavlova pointed out that the results of the survey show that Cypriots believe that accelerating renewable energy is a priority in fighting the global energy and climate crisis.

 

“At the EIB, we have been supporting innovative clean energy investments for many years, such as the construction of off-shore wind farms and more energy-efficient social housing. We stand ready to use our full range of advisory and financial instruments to support Cyprus in a just green energy transition that leaves no one behind” she added.

 

More than 28,000 respondents, of which 500 in Cyprus, participated in the survey in August 2022.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

A Trilateral Meeting held in Armenia, in the presence of the Presidential Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Overseas Cypriots, Photis Photiou, confirmed the common will to strengthen the cooperation of Cyprus, Greece and Armenia on Diaspora issues, an announcement issued Friday by the Presidency of the Republic says.

 

Photiou participated in the Trilateral Meeting as part of an official visit to Armenia, representing the Government at the World Congress of the Armenian Diaspora, in Yerevan, it is added.

 

The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, responsible for Diaspora Greeks, Andreas Katsaniotis, and the High Commissioner for Diaspora of Armenia, Zareh Sinanyan.

 

The Commissioner’s Office further notes that the three sides highlighted, among other things, the close historical and cultural ties that unite the three countries, as well as the common challenges they face.

 

Photiou also referred to the upcoming Photography Exhibition that will be inaugurated on November 11 in Cyprus, on the subject of the national tragedies experienced by the three countries in the 20th century, namely the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the genocide of the Pontic Greeks and the genocide of Armenians. For this purpose, it is noted that Sinanyan and Katsaniotis have been invited to Cyprus next month.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

 

President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades will present Cyprus’ initiative for tackling the consequences of climate change, at the sidelines of the COP-27 Summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, taking place on November 7 and 8.

 

According to a written statement by the Director of the President’s Press Office, Andreas Iosif, President Anastasiades will depart on Sunday, November 6, for Egypt.

 

The Summit will be chaired by President Anastasiades and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

 

The Cyprus initiative, it is added, aims to enhance coordination and regional cooperation among the countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, the announcement adds.

 

Taking advantage of the “excellent relations Cyprus has developed with neighbouring countries” the initiative aims, inter alia, at developing a regional action plan, with the contribution of distinguished scientists, Iosif says.

 

The aim of the Summit is to lay the foundations for implementing the relevant actions and goals, the announcement concludes.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency