Day: March 9, 2023

Promoting women’s rights strengthens the effort for full and substantial equality, which undoubtedly contributes to the well-being of societies and economic development, House President Annita Demetrious said Thursday, delivering a message before the Plenary on the occasion of yesterday’s International Women’s Day.

Demetriou said that the state defends the equal and democratic representation of women at all levels of public life, as well as the provision of equal opportunities for advancement, so that there is real equality between the two genders.

She said that everyday life shows however that women are still victims of gender discrimination and gender-based violence, which damages their dignity and significantly violates their rights at work and elsewhere.

Demetriou went on to say that there is an urgent need to set specific targets to address the pay gap between men and women, to combat sexual harassment of women in the workplace or in public spaces, as well as to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence.

House President praised the role and actions of various organizations and added that the Parliament welcomes the implementation of the National Action Plan 2021-2025 with the aim of fully implementing Resolution 1325 Women, Peace and Security, which was adopted by the UN Security Council in 2000.

She also referred to the legislation passed by the Parliament making femicide a crime punishable by life imprisonment as well as the criminalization of sexism, which strengthens the existing legislative framework in Cyprus.

Source Cyprus News Agency

CYPRUS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY

FORECAST FOR THE SEA AREA OF CYPRUS (A)

FOR THE PERIOD FROM 0600 21/04/2024 UNTIL 0600 22/04/2024

Area covered is 8 kilometers seawards.

Winds are in BEAUFORT scale. Times are local times.

Atmospheric pressure at the time of issue: 1013hPa (hectopascal)

Weak low pressure affects the area. The weather will be partly cloudy.

Visibility: Good

Sea surface temperature: 20°C

Warnings: NIL

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Municipalities, communities and other bodies agreed on actions for joint cooperation for registering Cypriot lace in UNESCO’s World Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

This was agreed in a meeting held in Athienou earlier in the week.

The Municipality of Athienou said in a written statement, that, the meeting between bodies that have registered Cypriot types of lace such as ‘venice’ or ‘pittotis’, the Athienou oloploumi, the papilla and fervolites lace, with the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Cyprus and representatives of local authorities, namely, Athienou, Lapithos, Omodos, Koilani and the Koilani Cultural Group was held on its own initiative.

During the meeting, everyone agreed to the suggestion by Mayor of Athienou, Kyriakos Kareklas for cooperation and to ask the competent service of the Deputy Ministry of Culture to promote actions and request for the joint registration of the laces of Athienou, Lapithos, Karavas, Omodos and Koilani in the UNESCO World Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

It is added that they have also decided to develop a network, with the aim of joint cooperation for registering Cypriot lace in the List in question.

Source Cyprus News Agency

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo’s forthcoming visit to Cyprus is a very important message from the Secretary General that he is very much engaged in the Cyprus issue, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Cyprus, Colin Stewart said on Thursday after a meeting he had with Cyprus President, Nikos Christodoulides.

On his part, the Government Spokesman, Konstantinos Letymbiotis said in his statements that President Christodoulides expressed during the meeting readiness for a joint meeting with DiCarlo and Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, next week. Moreover, he noted that the President reiterated his will for the immediate resumption of the negotiations and elaborated on his proposal for a more active involvement of the EU, with a view to break the deadlock in the Cyprus problem.

Stewart said in his statements that he had a very good meeting with Christodoulides and that he congratulated him as this was their first formal meeting since Chistodoulides was inaugurated after his election.

Stewart noted that he expressed his condolences over the tragic deaths of the Cypriot youth in the train crash in Greece.

He went on to say that the main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the coming visit of Under-Secretary- General DiCarlo.

Her visit to Cyprus is a very important message from the Secretary General that he is very much engaged in the Cyprus issue, Stewart stressed.

As he said DiCarlo will be meeting with each of the leaders to hear from them how they see the prospects of moving forward.

Stewart underlined that the UN continues to be fully engaged in trying to find a way forward for a settlement in Cyprus.

At the moment we are pleased that there has been a positive tone established between the two leaders and this is something we very much want to build upon, he added.

He also said that he will be meeting with Tatar on Friday also to prepare DiCarlo’s visit.

Asked if there could be any expectations for something new from DiCarlo’s visit for example a new effort, Stewart said that we have things under discussion with the two sides, adding that it is early days as Christodoulides’ has just assumed his duties.

But yes, we see potential maybe not during the visit but certainly in the coming weeks we see a lot of potential for some positive developments, he noted.

Asked if DiCarlo is planning to visit the guarantor powers as well, Stewart said not on this trip.

On his part, the Government Spokesman said that DiCarlo’s visit sends the message that the UN has the resumption of the negotiations and breaking the deadlock high in its priorities.

He went on to say that during the meeting, President Christodoulides reiterated his will for the immediate resumption of the negotiations and elaborated on his proposal for a more active involvement of the EU with a view to break the deadlock.

The spokesman noted that Christodoulides reiterated his proposal for a social meeting, a dinner with Tatar and Stewart once he is back from Brussels and that he also expressed his readiness for a joint meeting with DiCarlo and Tatar next week.

According to Letymbiotis, the President also explained to Stewart his proposal about the EU and talked to him about the discussion he had with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, who responded positively to Christodoulides’ proposal always in the UN framework.

Asked about Stewart’s response to Christodoulides’ proposal, Letymbiotis said that the UN sees it in a positive way and considers the EU as a partner that must be active in the negotiating process.

Moreover, he said that the UN sees positively the positive tone of Christodoulides’ public statements since he assumed his duties, as it creates a positive climate for the resumption of the negotiations.

Replying to another question, the spokesman said that the negotiations will always be taking place under the UN auspices and the EU will have a supportive role.

CNA has learned that DiCarlo will arrive to Cyprus in the evening of March 14. On March 15 in the morning, she will meet with Christodoulides and later with Tatar.

Early in the afternoon she will inaugurate a photo exhibition at the Home of Cooperation in the buffer zone, for the participation of women in the negotiations for the Cyprus problem.

During her stay she will also meet with the members of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) and will visit Famagusta and the buffer zone in Nicosia.

She is expected to depart from Cyprus on March 16.

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

Both GDP and employment increased during the 4th quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter in Cyprus, while in the eurozone GDP remained stable and employment increased and in the EU GDP fell and employment increased, according to estimates released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU.

Cyprus in particular had the third largest increase in GDP and the fourth largest increase in employment compared to the 3rd quarter of the year.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 1.1% in Cyprus (remained stable in the euro area and decreased by 0.1% in the EU), compared with the previous quarter, while employment increased by 0.7% (+0.3% in both eurozone and EU).

Regarding GDP, during the 3rd quarter of 2022 there had been a growth of 1.6% in Cyprus (+0.4% in both the euro area and in the EU).

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 4.5% in Cyprus (+1.8% in the euro area and by 1.7% in the EU) in the fourth quarter of 2022, after having increased by 5.3% (+2.4% in the euro area and +2.6% in the EU) in the previous quarter.

For the year 2022 as a whole, GDP increased by 3.5% in both the euro area and the EU, after +5.3% and +5.4% respectively in 2021.

During the fourth quarter of 2022, GDP in the United States increased by 0.7% compared to the previous quarter (after +0.8% in the third quarter of 2022). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, GDP increased by 0.9% (after +1.9% in the previous quarter).

By member state, Greece (+1.4%) recorded the highest increase of GDP compared to the previous quarter, followed by Malta (+1.2%) and Cyprus (+1.1%).

The highest decreases were observed in Poland (-2.4%), Estonia (-1.6%) and Finland (-0.6%).

Regarding different GDP components, during the fourth quarter of 2022, household final consumption expenditure decreased by 0.9% in the euro area and by 0.8% in the EU (after +0.9% in the euro area and +0.7% in the EU in the previous quarter). Government final consumption expenditure increased by 0.7% in both the euro area and the EU (after -0.2% in both zones in the previous quarter). Gross fixed capital formation decreased by 3.6% in the euro area and by 2.8% in the EU (after +3.9% and +3.5% respectively). Exports increased by 0.1% in the euro area and remained stable in the EU (after +1.7% and +1.9%). Imports decreased by 1.9% in both the euro area and the EU (after +4.2% and +3.9% in the previous quarter)

Regarding the contributions to growth of different sectors, Household final consumption expenditure had negative contributions to GDP growth in both the euro area and the EU (-0.4 percentage points – pp in both zones). The contributions from government final expenditure were positive for both zones (+0.2 pp for the euro area and +0.1 pp for the EU). The contributions of gross fixed capital formation were negative for the euro area (-0.8 pp) and for the EU (-0.6 pp). The contributions from the external balance were positive (+1.0 pp for the euro area and +0.9 pp for the EU). The contributions from changes in inventories were positive for the euro area (+0.1 pp) and negative for the EU (-0.1 pp).

Based on seasonally adjusted figures, GDP volumes in the euro area and EU were 2.4% and 2.8% respectively above the level recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak. For the United States, GDP was 5.1% higher than the level of the fourth quarter of 2019.

Employment increased overall

The number of employed persons increased by 0.7% in Cyprus (+0.3% both in the euro area and in the EU) in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2022, employment had increased by 2.0% (+0.3% in the euro area and by +0.2% in the EU).

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment increased by 3.0% in Cyprus (+1.5% in the euro area and by +1.3% in the EU) in the fourth quarter of 2022, after +3.1% (+1.8% in the euro area and +1.5% in the EU) in the third quarter of 2022.

According to a first estimation of annual growth for 2022, based on quarterly data, employment increased by 2.2% in the euro area and by 2.0% in the EU.

Hours worked increased by 0.8% in Cyprus (+0.4% in the euro area and + 0.5% in the EU) in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with the previous quarter. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the hours worked increased by 3.5% (+1.3% in the euro area, 1.1% in the EU).

By member state, in the fourth quarter of 2022, Malta (+1.6%), Poland (+0.9%), Estonia, Cyprus and the Netherlands (all +0.7%) recorded the highest growth of employment in persons compared with the previous quarter.

The highest decline of employment was recorded in Portugal (-0.8%), Lithuania and Latvia (both -0.5%).

Based on seasonally adjusted figures, Eurostat estimates that in the fourth quarter of 2022, 214.6 million people were employed in the EU, of which 165.0 million were in the euro area.

In relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, employment in persons in the euro area was 3.6 million above the level of the fourth quarter of 2019, and 4.7 million above this level in the EU.

The combination of GDP and employment data allows an estimation of labour productivity. The analysis of growth compared to the same quarter of the previous year shows that productivity growth fluctuated around 1% for both zones between 2013 and 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic caused high volatility in 2020.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, productivity based on persons increased by 0.3% in the euro area and 0.4% in the EU compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Based on hours worked, productivity compared to the same quarter of the previous year decreased by 0.3% in the euro area and remained stable in the EU.

Source Cyprus News Agency

Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs will pay a visit to Cyprus next week, conveying the message that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is committed to finding a way out of the impasse, in line with Security Council resolutions.

As the Cyprus News Agency learns, Di Carlo, who will hold separate meetings with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, will encourage the two sides to find common ground for the resumption of negotiations.

Since 2021 we are at an impasse. We expect the idea of the Secretary-General to delegate the tasks to high-ranking officials of the Secretariat, without them being an envoy, to have positive results. The separate meetings will be held in an effort for DiCarlo to understand if the positions of the two sides can converge somewhere. We are still at an exploratory stage, a diplomatic source from the United Nations told CNA.

While in Cyprus, DiCarlo will also meet with members of civil society, women and members of the youth. She will also pay a visit to the Laboratory of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP).

The initial CMP list of missing persons included 2,002 people and excavation works started in 2006. According to a diplomatic source, CMP is carrying out excavations in several places on the island recently, but was unable to locate any remains. Which means that there is no correct information about the areas that need to be excavated and those who know need to be encouraged’ to come forward, the same source said, adding that ‘for this reason it is good that DiCarlo will pay a visit to the place.

Finally, the Under-Secretary-General will visit the UN controlled Buffer Zone that divides Cyprus. The schedule of her trip, which is being prepared by UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cyprus, Colin Stewart, is not final yet.

Speaking about DiCarlo’s visit to Cyprus, the Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the UN, Ambassador Andreas Hadjichrysanthou, told CNA that this is a good move and we welcome it. We are optimistic that DiCarlo will find common ground and look to the UN Secretary General to remain active and push for the opening of negotiations.’

‘What we are still waiting for is to arrange a bilateral meeting between President Nikos Christodoulides and the UN Secretary-General on the sidelines of the European Council on March 23 in Brussels, the Ambassador noted.

On Thursday, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides is meeting with the UN SG Special Representative in Cyprus, Colin Stewart, to prepare ahead of DiCarlo’s visit.

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

A meeting of female representatives of European news agencies, members of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA), hosted by the Croatian News Agency (HINA) in Zagreb on Wednesday, resulted in the adoption of a declaration calling for gender parity on the boards of media organisations and EANA itself.

The female representatives, mainly from southern and eastern Europe, pointed out that advocating women in leadership positions should not be just lip service, but must produce concrete results. EANA was established in 1956 and brings together 33 news agencies. Representatives of nine news agencies gathered in Zagreb on Wednesday, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, initiating a working group on empowerment of women in media organisations and EANA itself.

The President of EANA, Clemens Pig, from the Austrian APA news agency, said that the aim of the current presidency of EANA is to increase the presence of women in the organisation’s leadership.

Those attending the meeting were greeted by Croatian Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek, who said that the gathering of women working in the media sector is extremely important.

HINA’s Director Branka-Gabriela Vojvodic proposed a declaration on the empowerment of women in EANA, emphasising commitment to the advocacy of women in the leadership positions of news agency and EANA itself.

The declaration calls for a greater proportion of women in EANA’s leadership, regular exchanges of experience and networking in order to promote equality and implement the Women’s Empowerment Principles of the United Nations in media organisations.

The Cyprus News Agency participated in the event with International Relations Officer Marianna Mela.

Source Cyprus News Agency

Cypriot MP, Kostis Efstathiou, travels on Thursday to Venice to represent the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights at the 134th Plenary Session of the Venice Commission that is taking place on 10-11 March.

According to a House of Representatives press release, as the representative of the Assembly, Efstathiou will discuss with the Commission ways for the best cooperation between PACE and the Venice Commission.

Views will also be exchanged in the framework of the Session between the Venice Commission and the Permanent Representatives of Denmark and Finland to the Council of Europe (CoE).

Azerbaijan’s recent legislation regarding political parties will also be reviewed.

Source Cyprus News Agency

A 12.62% decrease was recorded in fires in Cyprus, according to the statistics of the Fire Service for the year 2022.

According to the statistics, published on Thursday, the Service have responded to a total of 6,451 fires throughout Cyprus.

In relation to rural fires, a downward trend of 23% (3,445) is observed for 2022, compared to 2021, when the total recorded number was 4,474.

3.33% increase was recorded, however, in fires in urban areas, more specifically, 3,006 in 2022, compared with 2,909 in 2021.

The Fire Service also carried out 24 fire rescues in 2022 compared to 29 in 2021, while there were 31 injuries compared to 19 in 2021 and five people died in fires compared to seven in the corresponding period last year.

The Fire Service also report that during 2022, they have responded to a total of 11,247 calls for assistance, which related to calls for fires, special services but also fake calls.

According to the Fire Service, for yet another year, 90% of fires in rural areas were due to the human factor, but note that a significant reduction was recorded in 2022, adding that this was due to their prevention campaigns while patrols, by the Police, the Fire Service, the Forestry Department, the Game and Fauna Service, as well as other organised groups, helped.

The economic aspect of the damage is significantly reduced for 2022 totaling pound 9,491,552 euros pound 8,615,472 concerning urban fires and pound 876,080 rural fires. In 2021 damage amounted to pound 29,212,512 of which pound 10,596,402 concerned fires in urban areas and pound 18,616,110 rural fires.

Source Cyprus News Agency

In the third quarter of 2022, in the EU, the majority of employed people aged 15-64 years were men (54% men compared with 46% women), while women were the majority in particular categories and occupations, such as office support, cleaning and child care, according to data published by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU.

The categories where women were a majority (according to the classification methodology used by the International Labour Organization), were clerical support workers (66% of total people employed aged 15-64 in this occupation), service and sales workers (63%), professionals e.g. scientists, teachers (54%) and elementary occupations (53%).

At the other end of the scale, women made up less than a fifth of people employed as craft and related trades workers (11%) and plant and machine operators and assemblers (19%).

On a more detailed level, women in the EU made up the vast majority of employed people among childcare workers and teachers’ aides (93% of total people employed in this occupation in Q3 2022), nursing and midwifery professionals (89%) and primary school and early childhood teachers (88%). Also, about 90% of workers in secretarial positions and as domestic, hotel, office cleaners and helpers were women.

Meanwhile, women were a small minority among building frame and related trades workers (1%), machinery mechanics and repairers, and electrical equipment installers and repairers (both 3%). The percentages of women working as sheet and structural metal workers, moulders and welders and related workers, as well as heavy truck and bus drivers were also similarly low.

Source Cyprus News Agency