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"If the child is spared, there is hope". A lyric from a song we all know and we can all relate to. A timeless lyric that touches all of us who are always thinking of the children who are the future and the hope. To the children, whom we should protect and build, because they will continue what others start and they can improve the world when they grow up.
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to today's event, an event organized at our initiative for the first time, 49 years after the Turkish invasion, dedicated to our interned and resettled children. To our children, to our children of Cyprus. The children who give vitality to our occupied villages. However, they are growing up in different circumstances, and they and their parents, over the years, facing many difficulties over time due to the Turkish occupation and sacrificing so much both for their families and for their land.
The first event for children, which is the beginning of a new series of actions, is part of our strategic objective that we have set from the first moment I took office, on the basis of the President's Governance Programme of the President of the Republic. At the core of this plan is the person himself, every child, every young person, their needs and the safeguarding of their rights.
Today, interned and resettled children aged 5 to 18, children and young people attending our schools in the occupied territories can have a day like all our students attending and residing in the free territories.
Today, interned and resettled children aged 5 to 18, children and young people attending our schools in the occupied territories can have a day like all our students attending and residing in the free territories. They attended a theatrical performance, that is, they had access to culture, were educated, socialized and were given the opportunity to have a nice and carefree time during a school day in view of the Christmas holidays.
This is neither an opportunity nor a favour. And I want this message to be clear. It is about ensuring the human right to personal development, which is achieved in a variety of ways, such as access to culture, to education, to entertainment, to socialization. All children have the same rights and it is clearly our obligation to ensure these rights.
This plan, therefore, includes the development of actions and programmes for interned and resettled children and for our young people, since it was found that such opportunities and actions are lacking, with the result that children remain inactive and excluded from activities in which children participate in the free areas. The decision to implement such actions and to carry out programmes aimed at the personal development of our interned and resettled children and young people was the result of the contacts we had with the protagonists themselves, our interned and resettled children. Specifically, following my face-to-face meetings with them during our visits to our occupied villages, as well as meetings in my office, the absence of such activities and programs that would activate children and youth in general, facilitating their personal development and ensuring their rights as children, like all children, was noted. Such activities and programmes help to strengthen and develop their skills that will also help them in later life, giving them opportunities for personal advancement. The magic of developing skills through various activities and games helps our children and young people to socialise and communicate effectively with each other.
It is for this very reason that I consider direct contact with our interned and resettled people very important and face-to-face communication useful. It is very important to be there, close to them, next to them, to listen to their needs, to listen to their problems and concerns and, where the need is identified, to intervene and with the appropriate interventions, to resolve the problems and provide solutions, improving their quality of life, especially that of the children. From the contacts and meetings I have had with them over the last few months, various problems that need to be addressed have been recorded and at this stage we are trying to reshape the situation.
I must say that, especially our children and young people are our highest priority. It is very important to be close to them, to invest in them, to have effective communication with them, to identify their needs and issues and to try together with them to resolve any issues that will improve their standard of living, and that will ensure that they have similar activities and work and learning opportunities as in the free areas, through which they will be given opportunities to discover new aspects of themselves and their talents.
Dear children and educators I welcome you to the Acropolis Park, to the event we are organizing for you, which includes entertaining games and lunch. In the area where the event takes place there are inflatables to play with, stilt walkers, mascots, and other activities such as magic show, face painting, music and dancing. Games will be provided as part of the event.
In closing, I will reiterate that this event is the beginning of many other activities and programs that are in the works as part of our strategic planning. It is our obligation and duty, as a society, as a state, as a nation, to stand by children who grow up with more difficulties, ensuring equal rights for them.
Finally, I would like to stress for the umpteenth time that we will stand by our interned and resettled people in order to solve the issues that concern them and improve their quality of life, and in particular by our children and young people, ensuring that they have the same learning and work opportunities as in the free areas.
Children are our joy and our future, our hope for a better world.
(RM/NZ/ASP)
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