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- Русский
Friday, 2 June 2023
[/P]It is with great pleasure that I am attending tonight's event for the inauguration of the St. Athanasios Community Volunteer Council's Child Protection and Employment Centre.
Before I left my office in Nicosia to come to the inauguration, I had a meeting where I told my interlocutor that I had to leave because I was going to the Municipality of Agios Athanasios for the inauguration of such a Centre and he said to me, does the President of the Republic need to go to the inauguration of such a Centre? Apart from the fact that I told him that I have special relations with the Mayor, current and former since I have attended many events of the Municipality, the reason why I am here is because during the election campaign I had visited the industrial area, I had discussed with the Board and they had mentioned to me the establishment of this Centre. And it was an idea that, when we came back to Nicosia, made a particular impression on me and we did a lot of research to see what was happening in third countries. Indeed, such Centres in third countries can be found in all industrial regions and not only. It was for this reason that we included it in our pre-election programme, not only for industrial areas, but also for large private companies employing more than 1500-2000 people, precisely to give women and families the opportunity to be able to work, and to offer equal access to the labour market for parents as a state. I'm glad we will work together to make whatever changes are needed. 'Already, we've had a meeting with the Minister of Commerce specifically on the issue of industrial areas because we need to upgrade the industrial areas. I must mention, without any criticism, but as a country we have not given industry the importance that we should have given it, starting with the industrial areas as well. So, I am here today and I am very happy that we are launching a project that was funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan and it is very important that we see that the objectives are now being translated into actions, for the benefit of citizens and society in general.
Allow me to make a reference to the fact that the Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Cyprus is with us. We are all talking about the Recovery and Resilience Plan. We as the new Government are following the "Vision 2035" that was promoted by the previous administration and our broader objectives, economic and otherwise, are largely based on the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Because we know, more we who participate in the public life of the country and not the society, that for everything bad that happens in our country or for everything negative we blame the EU, and whenever we have successes we say that the successes are the product of the battles and struggles we fought in Brussels, we have to thank the EU tonight. It was said earlier that it was the Recovery and Resilience Plan in response to the coronavirus crisis and think if our country was not an EU member state how many opportunities we would not have had because of this development. So, I want to thank the EU for standing by us.
For the Recovery and Resilience Plan, I know that there is time to propose some changes that we are already working on, changes that aim to orient ourselves even more - because the proposals of the Republic are very good, they were the product of dialogue - but also to focus even more on social policy. And being in Limassol, and knowing that one of the biggest problems is housing, especially on the issue of student residences, as there is a provision in the plan for Nicosia for student residences, it is an issue that we need to see whether through the Recovery and Resilience Plan we can include Limassol as well.
Modern lifestyles make it even more imperative to provide parents with the necessary means to achieve the reconciliation of family and professional life. The role of the executive is crucial in this effort, but without the help of local government and other bodies, this goal cannot be achieved.
The Municipality of St. Athanasius and the SKE, listening precisely to the needs of the local community who know clearly better than us - and I want to say that our approach follows the approach found at the European level to give even more powers to the Local Government, to take them out of the central state and give them to the Local Government, because through local government there can clearly be a quicker response to the needs of the state and I hope that the reform, which must be implemented, will lead to these kinds of results; have led us today to launch this project and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you, Mayor, your predecessor and the members of the Municipal Councils.
It is important to mention that the Municipality of Agios Athanasios promotes on a continuous basis important initiatives and programmes and has participated in programmes co-funded by the European Union.
Also important is the action of the Agios Athanasios Community Volunteer Council, which through its voluntary work aims to provide social services, always based on the needs of the community and aimed at developing and improving the quality of life of the local community.
The role of Local Government and Community Volunteerism Councils is extremely important in shaping and building what we envision, a modern and social state. Creating synergies with civil society brings us closer to achieving common goals for the benefit of society in general.
The state, for its part, will continue to stand by this effort, especially for the operation of structures related to childcare, but also for the use of European funds. An excellent job is being done by the relevant department of the government, aimed at creating conditions of social cohesion. In this context, the New State Grants Scheme of Social Welfare Services has also been announced for the creation of new or upgrading and expansion of existing social care structures under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Plan is addressed to Non-Governmental Organisations and Local Authorities and offers the possibility, among others, to establish Multipurpose Centres for Children and Child Care Centres, with a total budget of approximately €15 million.
Furthermore, an important action of the Recovery and Resilience Plan is the elaboration of a relevant project on Pre-Primary Education and Care in Cyprus. This two-year project is funded by the European Union through the Recovery and Resilience Fund and is being developed by UNICEF in cooperation with the European Commission through the Technical Assistance Facility. The project is led by the Social Welfare Services of the State Ministry of Social Welfare, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth. The Project will make recommendations, which will be used by the Executive for the preparation of the first National Strategy and Action Plan for Pre-primary Education.
Today is of particular significance as the Child Care and Employment Centre is the first Child Care Centre to be completed under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, and the first Child Care Centre to be built within the administrative centre of an industrial area.
Providing incentives for the establishment of child care centres for working parents is one of the key objectives of our administration.
I would like to mention that the successful implementation of both the Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Thalia Programme and all EU co-funded programmes, is a great challenge that concerns all of us and not a single euro should be lost in this effort and I look forward to the cooperation of all parliamentary parties because, as you understand, in many of them there are prerequisites, there are conditions where the executive and the legislature need to cooperate.
In conclusion, I would like to congratulate once again the Mayor and all those involved in the project and reiterate that the state will stand by you for such initiatives that strengthen social cohesion in our country.
(RM/NG)
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