‘The voice of the voiceless’

Cypriot Commissioner-designate for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides appeared at the European Parliament on Tuesday, in a hearing by the relevant parliamentary committees on his ability to handle the portofolio.
During his three-hour long hearing, Stylianides said it is a privilege to have been proposed for this portfolio, adding that he wants to be “the spokesperson of the most vulnerable, the voice of the voiceless.”
Stylianides made special reference to the ever increasing Ebola epidemic, promising that his first official visit as Commissioner will be to countries affected by Ebola.
“Ebola should be addressed like a mega natural disaster – it is like a typhoon in slow motion. It is also a threat to global security as noted by the UN Security Council. Behind the worrying statistics of the devastating spread of the virus are real human lives, people and communities that will also need psychosocial assistance after recovery. These are immediate and pressing crises and they need immediate response, but also long term planning,” he added.
Stylianides also made a reference to Cyprus, saying that he knows what it means to be in a conflict situation. “To have no shelter, to be without the basic needs, to live in fear and be stripped of your dignity. As a child and then again as a student I witnessed the suffering of the people of Cyprus. Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. I witnessed the pain of displacement. I understood the hard way the importance and the necessity of humanitarian aid. Let me be clear: the impact of conflict has no ethnic or religious colour. It hits everyone: old, young, men, women, girls, boys”.
Stylianides’ presentation will now be evaluated by the committees. The results will be sent to the President of Parliament and considered by the Conference of Presidents, followed by a plenary sitting where the parliament will get to vote on approval of the whole European Commission as a body.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.