Wednesday 2nd September 2020

An in-depth discussion on important issues concerning Greece, but also the world community, between the Director General of UNESCO Mrs. Audrey Azoulay and the Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, took place on Monday 31 August 2020.

The teleconference was held on the occasion of the recent recognition of Mrs. Vardinoyannis with the Nelson Mandela Prize 2020 by the United Nations on which the Director-General of UNESCO congratulated her, stressing that UNESCO is “proud of her”

The Nelson Rohilhalha Mandela prize is awarded to Marianna V. Vardinoyannis to recognize the achievement of 30 years fighting child cancer through her two Foundations dedicated to children: she gave one Foundation her name, and the other is ELPIDA Friends’ Association of Children with cancer.

Marianna V. Vardinoyannis shares this prize with Dr Morissanda Kouyaté of Guinea who was rewarded for his commitment to end Female Genital Mutilations. This esteemed prize was established in 2015 to recognize the achievements of two persons one male and one female laureates from different geographic regions who dedicated their lives to the service of humanity,

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

On the occasion of the United Nations Nelson Mandela Prize 2020, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Nikos Dendias,  organized a special event in honour of Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to congratulate her on this great honor, on Tuesday, July 21st 2020.

During his welcome speech he said: “Your award is a real recognition by the largest international organization in the world for your efforts to protect human rights, especially the rights of children,

Monday, July 20 2020

The “Nelson Mandela Prize 2020”, the highest honor for humanitarian work, was awarded to the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, by the United Nations General Assembly.

The award ceremony was held in the presence of H.E. the President of the UN General Assembly Mr. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande and H.E. the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the context of an informal meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, held on the occasion of Nelson Mandela World Day,

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”

The timeless messages of the Battle of Salamis and the Battle of Thermopylae, in a critical period for humanity, were discussed at the 5th Delphi Economic Forum by the Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and President of the Honorary Committee of the Anniversary Year “Thermopylae – Salamina 2020”, Marianna V. Vardinoyannis and the Rector of the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Helene Ahrweiler.

In the discussion, entitled “Thermopylae and Salamis: The Triumph of Will” and coordinated by journalist Mr. Antonis Sroiter,

With an objective of cultivating international solidarity and cooperation between states for addressing the pandemic, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, is making a series of contacts with important personalities and leaders from across the world.

In this context, on Thursday, 21 May 2020, Mrs Vardinoyannis had a teleconference with the Co-Chair of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center and former President of Latvia, Dr. Vaira Vike Freiberga, with whom she has a close cooperation, since Mrs Vardinoyannis is a founding member of the International Organisationand a member of the Board of Trustees.

Athens, Tuesday 19 May 2020

Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, President of the Honorary Committee for the “Salamis – Thermopylae 2020” Anniversary Year, referred to the teachings drawn from Thermopylae and Salamis, saying that “’I’ gave its place to ‘We’”. And the few showed the many that people are not numbers, and the soul and spirit are the true strength of man, Marianna Vardinoyannis noted in her intervention in the online discussion organised by the Delphi Economic Forum, titled 2,500 years after Thermopylae and Salamis:

Love and giving for children know no borders.  The major contribution of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center to the ‘Marianna V. Vardinoyannis – ELPIDA’ Children’s Oncology Unit proved this, supporting hospitalized children and medical staff by sending 5,000 protective masks.

This wonderful initiative is creating a bridge of friendship between Greece and Azerbaijan, as the NGIC operates with the support of the country’s President, Ilham Aliyev, and First Lady and Vice President, Mehriban Aliyeva, who have close bonds of friendship with the President of the ‘ELPIDA Association of Friends of Children with Cancer’,

The ‘Marianna V. Vardinoyannis’ Foundation and the ‘ELPIDA Association of Friends of Children with Cancer’ continue to offer hope and consolation to our fellow human beings suffering hardship throughout Greece due to the pandemic.

This time, the solidarity and love travelled to the Holy Metropolis of Gortynos and Megalopolis in Arcadia, where, on Monday, 4 May 2020, on the initiative of Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, food and necessities were delivered to cover the needs of the Metropolis’s meal programme, in the context of its humanitarian work.