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- Ελληνικά
The Economic Agreement between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Republic of Cyprus was signed today. The Director of the Office of the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Charalambos Charalambous, and on behalf of UNDP Cyprus, Mr. Jakhongir Khaydarov.
At the signing ceremony, the Director of the Office of the President of the Republic handed over to Mr. Khaydarov the contribution of the Republic of Cyprus to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), in the amount of 175 thousand euros for 2023.
At the signing ceremony, the Director of the Office of the President of the Republic handed over to Mr. Khaydarov the contribution of the Republic of Cyprus to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), in the amount of 175 thousand euros for 2023.
Present at the meeting were the Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Missing and Trapped Persons Ms. Anna Aristotelous and the Greek Cypriot Representative to the Missing Persons' Committee, Mr. Leonidas Pantelidis.
The contribution is part of the support and backing of the very important work carried out by the ICRC, by the Republic of Cyprus, in investigating and determining the fate of the missing persons of Cyprus. This aspect is one of the most tragic humanitarian consequences of the Cyprus problem for Greek Cypriots, Greeks and Turkish Cypriots.
With the utmost respect to the suffering families of the missing persons, the Republic of Cyprus will remain an unwavering supporter in assisting the work of the ICRC. It is noted that, since the launch of the ICRC exhumation programme, the direct contributions of the Republic of Cyprus to the funding of the programme amount to more than EUR 3.7 million, the highest amount after the European Union grants. This amount does not include other measures in support of the CMP Programme funded directly by the Republic of Cyprus and relating to exploration and exhumation.
The Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Missing and Trapped Persons stated that the Republic of Cyprus supports in every way and means the efforts of the ICRC in carrying out its work, which is none other than to determine the fate of the missing persons, Greek Cypriots, Greek Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. Expressing the special thanks of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU for its significant and catalytic assistance, Ms Aristotelous noted that the CMP's budget for 2023 is €3.2 million and most of the CMP's expenses are covered by the EU, whose funding amounts to €2.6 million and constitutes 80% of the CMP's budget. The remaining €600,000 comes from donor contributions, with the contribution of the Republic of Cyprus being the highest of all contributions to fund the CMP programme, which is accompanied by other important measures relating to surveys and exhumations funded by the Republic of Cyprus.
Ms. Aristotelous pointed out that the Government's objective is to further strengthen and support the work of the ICRC and in particular to accelerate in practice all relevant processes to determine the fate of the missing persons as a top priority. Time is our greatest enemy when it comes to the issue of our missing persons and he assured that the efforts of the State have a single objective, the determination of the fate, with convincing and documented evidence, of our last missing person. This, he stressed, will also mean the end of the martyrdom of uncertainty borne by their relatives for 49 years.
(PM/NG/SX)
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