More than 500,000 children in Greece live in conditions of poverty or social exclusion
His childhood Dimitris Siova noted by World War II and instead of carelessness he was confronted with the poverty, hunger and horrors of war. Mr. Siovas was one of the first children to be supported by the then United Nations Care and Rehabilitation Organization (UNRRA), from which the “birth” of Unicef. He describes his experiences in a Unicef documentary that is shown around the world for the 75 years of the international organization. He shared these experiences with the audience of tonight’s event organized at the Zapeio Megaron, in Athens. The doctor and former mayor of Grevena, Dimitris Siovas, described how UNRRA provided them with meals and school supplies and stated that “UNRRA services translated into us as an attitude of love, respect and special human interest for years we lived in contempt and contempt.” Mr. Siovas described with emotion moments of his childhood during the war, hunger, deprivation, which “marked the most sensitive aspects of human existence, such as dignity, freedom, hope and which were replaced by the conqueror.” in an inhuman way. with humiliation, depravity, destruction, deprivation, hunger “and added that” the injuries that our soul suffers are not healed, they remain in the soul indelibly and of course they teach “. The event for the 75th anniversary of Unicef was greeted by the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou. Unicef in cooperation with the Greek state will create the first five-year national program for children in Greece from 2022. The program includes four areas: the reform of the child protection system, the inclusion and participation of young people in the recruitment process decision-making, combating the social exclusion of children and quality inclusive education.
As the head of the Unicef office in Greece, Luciano Celestini, pointed out, more than 500,000 children in Greece live in poverty or social exclusion, while 600,000 children and young people are obese. A quarter of children do not attend preschool, and at least 1,500 children live in institutions instead of families. Also, 18% of young people aged 15-29 are out of employment, education or training structures and 35.2% of the same age group are facing unemployment.
Mr. Kalestini explains the Greek government’s initiatives for the protection of children, among the national plans for the rights of the child, for people with disabilities and for gender equality, as well as the national strategies for the social integration of refugees, for deinstitutionalization, to reduce poverty and social exclusion and the integration of the Roma. “These strategies need to be implemented, funded and monitored and we look forward to seeing them implemented,” he added.
The event was also addressed by children – members of the Unicef Advisory Committee on the Rights of the Child in Greece, such as Stavros who described the exclusions experienced by children of different backgrounds and Triantaphyllos who called for more sponsorships for children in institutions .
The event was musically dressed by George Perris and the El Sistema Greece orchestra.
The event was attended by, among others, the Minister of Labor Kostis Hatzidakis and the Deputy Ministers of Justice George Kotsiras, Welfare Domna Michailidou, Immigration and Asylum Sofia Voultepsi, Education Zetta Makri. Also, the deputies of ND Anna Karamanli, Olga Kefalogianni and Elena Rapti, of SYRIZA Costas Zachariadis and of the KKE Nikos Papanastasis, the head of the financial office of the Prime Minister Alexis Patelis, and the ambassador Unes Kali Theli.
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