Cyprus' Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Marilena Evangelou, in her intervention at the High-Level Conference on the importance of the family in society, taking place in Vienna, stated that the Cypriot government has made supporting the family a high political priority.

The Deputy Minister of Social Welfare is participating on Thursday in the High-Level Conference, focusing on the importance of the family in society, in Vienna, organised by the Austrian Government.

The Conference is attended by ministers from EU member states responsible for the design and implementation of policies aimed at supporting the family.

According to a press release by the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, the goal of the conference is the exchange of best practices among the Member States and the highlighting of policies for the well-being of the family as a priority pillar in the European agenda for the next five years.

Evangelou presented successful practices implemented in Cyprus, such as the subsidy for tuition and meals in nurseries and kindergartens for 13,000 preschool children with an annual budget of 20 million euros, and investments through the Recovery and Resilience Plan amounting to 15 million euros for the creation or expansion of 30 new nurseries.

She also referred to the operation of the Family Intervention and Support Center for Autism as well as financial support through the Child Benefit, Single-Parent Family Benefit, Student Grant, and the Maternity, Paternity, and Parental Leave benefits.

In her intervention, the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare informed inter alia that the Cypriot government has set as a high political priority the support of the family, as families are the foundation of every society and therefore need the best possible conditions to achieve positive social results for education, security, social cohesion, development, protecting, caring, recovering and continuing the existence of society.

She stressed that Cyprus remains committed to the continuation of these national programmes, welcoming the role of the EU, which provides the tools and resources for child- and family-centred policies.