New Deputy Minister for Social Welfare Marilena Evangelou stressed that “nothing’s easy, but everything is possible,” saying that she was fully aware of the weaknesses in the implementation of welfare policies and noted that she will lead the Deputy Ministry with a human-centered approach and empathy.
Taking over the Deputy Ministry for Social Welfare from outgoing Deputy Minister Anastasia Anthousi, during a handover ceremony on Wednesday, she stressed her determination to work on the basis that has been set out by her predecessor and to build on them with a view to strengthening the welfare state.
She said that in the governance program of President Nikos Chirstodoulides, which is focused on people, there is a vision for the development and strengthening of social policy.
Continuing, she said that she has full knowledge of the difficulties, shortcomings and weaknesses that exist in the system because, as a citizen of Cyprus herself has experienced the problems.
Addressing the staff she said that there are problems, challenges as in every job and every organization, Ministry and Deputy Ministry, assuring that “together we will face them by making an effort to solve them.”
Handing over the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, Anthousi, made a special reference to the late Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance Zeta Emilianidou, who brought about innovations in social policy.
The outgoing Deputy Minister said she was proud for the work done in the newly established Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare in the first 20 months since its launch.
As she said, taking over the baton from Zeta Emilianidou and aiming to continue the enormous work she had done in all the previous years, her goal was to lay the foundations for a more humane state, that supports and accompanies vulnerable social groups.
“Within the short time that I was the head of the Deputy Ministry, we managed to set up the Deputy Ministry and tried, by listening to the growing multidimensional needs of society and citizens, to improve the social welfare services provided,” she continued.
She also said that she set as a priority the reorganization of the Department of Social Welfare Services and emphasized changing the culture and establishing procedures to reduce bureaucracy and increase the quality of service to citizens.
SOURCE: CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY