H.E. The President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, had a meeting with the Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO, Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis on Friday, June 12 2020.

Mrs. Vardinoyannis thanked Mrs. Sakellaropoulou for the kind invitation to the Presidential Palace. It gave her the opportunity to inform the President in detail about her initiatives not only as President of the Honorary Committee of the Anniversary Year “Thermopylae – Salamis 2020” but also as President of the “ELPIDA – Association of Friends of Children with Cancer”.

Regarding the Anniversary Year “Thermopylae – Salamis 2020”, which Mrs. Sakellaropoulou has held under the auspices of the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic, Mrs. Vardinoyannis informed the President in detail about the Committee’s actions and how they had to be adjusted to the needs that the pandemic created. In her conversation with the President of the Republic, Mrs. Vardinoyannis emphasized that the pandemic placed mankind to the center of attention and for this reason the “Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation” allocated the funds, pledged for the celebrations of the Anniversary Year, to support vulnerable groups of our fellow citizens who were affected. Mrs. Vardinoyannis stated that “We will honor the Anniversary with responsibility to the new conditions that were created by the pandemic. Our Foundation will soon announce the actions to honor the historical memory with our primary goal to inspire the new generation of our nation with the values ​​and ideals that our ancestors bequeathed to us “.

Regarding the work of the “ELPIDA – Association of Friends of Children with Cancer”, which Mrs. Sakellaropoulou was fully informed about, she expressed her interest in children with great sensitivity as well as in all the latest scientific developments regarding childhood cancer. The President of the Hellenic Republic was deeply moved by the heroism of children and their parents who are fighting a hard fight against cancer, while she suggested, with spontaneity and love for children, visiting the Children’s Oncology Hospital, so as to contribute to the fight against childhood cancer.  Mrs. Vardinoyannis said to Mrs. Sakellaropoulou that “I am moved by the greatness of your soul and I will keep in my heart this conversation we had for about the children of the Hospital. I feel that we are following the same paths of humanism, offering and solidarity. Your visit to our Hospital will be a great honor for us, but above all it will give strength and courage to young patients and their parents“.

Finally, Mrs. Vardinoyannis briefed the President of the Hellenic Republic on the important international initiatives in which she participates as a Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO with the aim of raising awareness of the global community about the humanitarian crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, Mrs. Vardinoyannis proposed to Mrs. Sakellaropoulou to announce the start of the Web – Conference dedicated to the 75 years of the United Nations, co-organized by the “Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation” and the  “Nizami Ganjavi International Center”, an institution that many important personalities from all over the world participate in and whose Mrs. Vardinoyannis is a founding member of.