The Director- General and members of the "Hope For Children" CRC Policy Center management met with a group of members of diplomatic missions in Cyprus, in order to inform them about the important work implemented by the humanitarian organization on the protection of children and their rights, as well as the situation concerning unaccompanied children arriving in Cyprus.
The meeting was attended by the Ambassadors of the USA, Italy, Portugal, Poland, as well as diplomats of Sweden, Greece, Slovakia and the Netherlands. On behalf of HFC, the meeting was attended by the Director-General, Joseph Borghese, the Director of the Humanitarian Division of the Organization Andria Neocleous, the Deputy Director of the Humanitarian Division, Andria Agastiniotou, the Coordinator of the Child Protection Department, Katerina Melissari and Dimitris Ioannidis, on behalf of the Senior Advisory Board of the Organization.
During the meeting, the humanitarian and research programs and actions of HFC were presented. Special discussion was made of the operation of the HFC's children's shelters, "Homes for Hope", where unaccompanied children are accommodated. A discussion followed regarding the challenges Cyprus is facing in general, as well as the Organization in particular, in issues related to the rights of unaccompanied children, and the future plans to further strengthen the support services provided to unaccompanied children.
The Director- General of HFC, Joseph Borghese, warmly thanked all the members of the Diplomatic Missions for their interest in the Organization's programs and specifically in the children's shelters, "Homes for Hope". Mr. Borghese pointed out that this meeting is the beginning of a joint effort and cooperation to exchange good practices and strengthen the programs that will help manage the problems that unaccompanied children in Cyprus are facing.
Τhe Ambassadors and diplomats praised HFC for the services provided to the unaccompanied children and emphasized on the positive impact these bring to the children’s daily lives. Finally, they agreed on the research to finding resources to help unaccompanied children, during their stay at the children's shelters, as well as during their adulthood, contributing this way to the protection of their rights.
