New Deputy Minister of Social Welfare Tina Pavlou pledged on Thursday to continue the Ministry’s work and stand ‘by the families of Cyprus who are suffering and need us’, during a handover ceremony in Nicosia.
Outgoing Deputy Minister Clea Papaellina said Pavlou was taking over a Ministry with major reforms underway and significant prospects ahead.
Pavlou said she was proud to take over ‘the helm from worthy people’ and promised to continue the work from where her predecessor had left off.
Referring to her 30 years of service at the Agia Skepi drug rehabilitation centre, she said she had worked closely with state welfare services for many years and strongly identified with the Ministry’s mission.
‘I feel as though I am entering my own home,’ she said, adding that she regarded standing by less privileged people as her duty and life mission.
Pavlou said she knew first-hand the concern and personal commitment shown by welfare officers, whose contribution, she noted, had not always received the recognition it deserved. She added that she wanted to work alongside Ministry staff and build on what had already been achieved.
Papaellina said her tenure had focused on promoting a modern social policy that went beyond benefits and created opportunities for participation, independent living, social inclusion and equal rights.
She highlighted the adoption and implementation of legislation on the social participation, inclusion and independent living of people with disabilities.
Since July, she said, thousands of people with disabilities had begun receiving increased allowances, while thousands more would become eligible for support over the next three years following the abolition of income criteria.
She also stressed the need to further staff the Department for Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities and referred to the new policy framework for the vocational training, employment and care of young people with disabilities during their transition to adult life.
Other initiatives included the True Heart Café, a registered social enterprise employing people with autism, and a new pound 2 million autism centre in Nicosia, expected to be completed in autumn 2028.
Papaellina also referred to a community work scheme for recipients of the Guaranteed Minimum Income, the National Strategy and Action Plan on Early Childhood Education and Care and the modernisation of the Social Welfare Services.
She said the main priorities handed over to her successor included implementing the new disability policy framework, strengthening the relevant department, modernising welfare services and further upgrading child and adolescent protection.
CNA/HT/AGK/2026S, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY