The Embassies and Honorary Consulates of African countries supported “The Smile of the Child” through the 17th African Food, Music and Handicrafts Festival
17 July 2018
PRESS RELEASE
Athens, 17 July 2018
The Embassies and Honorary Consulates of African countries supported “The Smile of the Child” through the 17th African Food, Music and Handicrafts Festival
On Tuesday, 17th of July, “The Smile of the Child” welcomed at its premises in Athens the Ambassadors and Honorary Consuls of African countries, who delivered a cheque amounting to 20.000 €, collected on the occassion of the 17th African Food, Music and Handicrafts Festival which was dedicated this year to the actions of the Organization for the children in need.
More specifically, the 17th African Food, Music and Handicrafts Festival was held on the 12th and 13th of May at the Libyan School in Athens and part of the proceeds of the event were dedicated to the purposes of “The Smile of the Child” and its actions for children. Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Morocco, Burundi, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia and Zimbabwe were the participating countries.
Today’s ceremony was honored by Ambassadors and Consuls General of African countries, who were welcomed by the President of the BoD of “The Smile of the Child”, the Head of International Cooperation of the Organization, Ambassador (Hon), Marc Van den Reeck and the scientific personnel of “The Smile of the Child”.
During the event Mr. Yannopoulos presented briefly the actions of the Organization, implemented at nationwide level through quality and holistic services for all children regardless of ethnicity, religion or any other criterion.
“We would like to warmly thank the Embassies and the Honorary Consulates of African countries for their support to our difficult work for all children. Your contribution is extremely important given the fact that all our actions are the result of support from various actors, companies and citizens who stand by our actions all over these years. The support from African countries constitutes a very symbolic gesture for all of us, who fight on a daily basis for the protection of all children from around the world” he concluded.
HE Ambassador of South Africa in Greece, Mr. Marthinus Christoffel Johannes van Schalkwyk referred to the well-established event of the African Festival in Greece and the decision of the Group of African Embassies and Honorary Consulates to support this year “The Smile of the Child through the proceeds of the African Festival. “The vision of little Andreas to found an Organization for children and the way this vision came into reality is a source of inspiration for us which encouraged us to support the important work of “The Smile of the Child”, said the Ambassador of South Africa.
The event was concluded with the hand-over of the cheque to “The Smile of the Child”, the offering of symbolic gifts from the Organization to the Ambassadors and representatives of Honorary Consulates of African countries and a tour to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, where the scientific staff of the Organization had the opportunity to inform on the actions implemented on a daily basis and nationwide for the protection of children at risk.
