Council of Europe

14.04.2011 - The Director-General of Hope for Children, Mr Joseph Varughese, announced last week that the Goodwill Ambassador for the ONE in FIVE Campaign in Cyprus is George Theofanous, a widely acclaimed Cypriot composer whose work has received more than nine Arion awards.

Bringing on board this well known composer has successfully increased the media attention in Cyprus: newspapers, online portals and radio programmes have picked up the news. This attention has had a multiplying effect in promoting the Council of Europe ONE in FIVE Campaign in Cyprus: for example, more volunteers have signed up to assist in the campaign which will be officially launched later in the Spring.

One of the aims of the ONE in FIVE Campaign is to promote the ratification of the Lanzarote Convention. As a first action towards the ratification targeting the decision makers, Hope for Children launched a petition early this Spring.

The petition has been already signed by the first lady of Cyprus, Mrs Elsie Christofia, and by some other representatives of the government. The universities in the country have also joined in the campaign: petition booths are now found in the university campuses and a Facebook group has been set up to inform the students about the campaign.

Hope for Children has planned even more activities for the future: contacting several VIPs for a photography project as well as various activities with children and parents. The campaign in Cyprus can be taken as an example of good practice for other member states of the Council of Europe willing to promote the ONE in FIVE campaign in their countries.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.uncrcpc.org Hope for Children website
http://www.uncrcpc.org/node/1037 Link to press release