The “Foundation for the Child and the Family” and its President Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis organised a fundraising dinner to support the global Β campaign “End Human Trafficking Now” at the Athenaeum Intercontinental Hotel on January 23rd, 2006.

The dinner was attended by H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, President of “The Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement”, H.M.Β Queen Silvia of Sweden, H.H. Shaikha Sabeeka – wife of H.M. the King of Bahrain, T.R.H. Crown Prince Alexander and Princess Katherine of Serbia, the former UN Secretary General Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Director of the β€?Bibliotheca Alexandrinaβ€? Dr. Ismail Serageldin, the businessmen Mr. Vardis J. Vardinoyannis, Mr. Spyros Metaxas and his wife Kim, Mr. Michalis Sallas and his wife Sophia, Mr. Yannis Vardinoyannis and his wife Melissa, Mr. Yorgos Vardinoyannis and his wife Arietta, Mr. Naguib Sawiris, Dr. Hamza Al-Kholi, Mr. Khalid A. Alireza, Mr. Khalid Abdula-Janahi, Mr. David Arkless, Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley and her husband Mr. Smith Bagley, and others.

The dinner was opened with a speech of Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, who underlined the great importance of the campaign for human dignity and against the exploitation of human beings, especially women and children.

The actor Richard Gere and the composer Jean – Michel Jarre expressed their supportΒ through video recorded messages, while prominent Greek artists such as Nana Mouschouri, Sakis Rouvas and Lakis Lazopoulos were present at the dinner declaring their recruitment against human trafficking.

The evening included a live music performance by the UNESCO Artist for Peace Chico Bouchikhi and his group β€?The Gipsiesβ€?.

The dinner was also attended by: the Leader of the Opposition Party of Greece, Mr. George Papandreou and his wife Anda, the Greek Ministers, Anastasios Papaligouras, Marietta Giannakou, Panos Panagiotopoulos, Fani Palli-Petralia, Petros Doukas, the members of Β Parliament Petros Efthymiou,Β Vaso Papandreou, Savvas Tsitouridis, Zeta Makri, Sofia Kalatzakou and others, the President of the Cycladic Art Museum Mrs. Dolly Goulandris, as well as the businessmen Theodoros Vasilakis, Andreas Petrakis, Antonis Liberis, Giannis Fragos,Β Nikos Tsakos, Pavlos Psomiadis, Kyriakos Filippou, Yannis Filippou, Kostas Kessaris with their wives, and others.

The event was moderated by Nikos Aliagas and it was sponsored by Bulgari.