THE Pancyprian food collection campaign, under the name “Dynami Kyprion”, was completed successfully, Hermes airports announced on Monday. “The campaign which lasted for about a month was the first significant public-private partnership in the context of a charity effort aimed at collecting food supplies for our fellow citizens in need of support,” Hermes airports said. The campaign was conducted in collaboration with the education ministry and was supported by more than 35 institutions and organisations as well as by more than 1,000 volunteers all over Cyprus.

“The public was able to send specific types of food via their children to the schools around Cyprus. The school administrations then distributed these foods to the families of their students in need of support,” Hermes added.

It is estimated that during this collective effort 65 tonnes of food were collected at the schools participating in the campaign nationwide. It is also estimated that during the campaign more than 9,000 food packages were prepared by the schools and delivered quietly and discreetly to an equivalent number of families in need of support.

Cyprus faces a decade of near slump conditions and debt deleveraging with no guarantee of success at the end as it tries to claw back competitiveness within Europe's monetary union, the International Monetary Fund has warned. The unemployment rate will jump to 19.8pc next year amid a mounting risk to the country’s bail-out deal with the EU-IMF Troika, agreed under traumatic cicumstances in March after a collapse of the Cypriot banking system - a crisis caused by contagion from Greece's default. The IMF said political support for the Troika progamme was “sputtering” as trade unions mobilise against the austerity measures and key parties balk at sales of state assets. A continuing dispute between the government and the central bank is sapping confidence, it said.

The office of the European Parliament in Nicosia is launching a campaign in view of the EP elections to take place May 25th. The aim is to get all Cypriot citizens to vote and not to abstain.

The Cyprus office organized Saturday an event in Nicosia, with the participation of the FM, the G/C negotiator, the Cypriot MEPs, political leaders, MPs and various organizations and institutions, in order to gain attention for the elections. The main motto was “Act, React, Impact”.

All the participants in their speeches pointed out how important it is for the citizens to participate, noting that the EP takes a series of decisions that affect our everyday lives.

They also referred to the role the EP plays and its cooperation with the other EU institutions. The speakers also noted that the EP has taken decisions and has made interventions as regard the Cyprus problem, the missing persons, the return of the fenced-off city of Famagusta , the destruction of the cultural heritage in the occupied areas etc.

Alexanda Attalides, Acting Head of the European Parliament Office in Cyprus in her speech underlined that the bigger the turnout in the elections, the bigger the message will be that the Cyprus society has realized the role the EP plays in our lives and how it can better support the citizens and their problems.

The Cyprus economy contracted at a slower pace than originally estimated between July - September of 2013, figures show. Third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 5.3% in real terms over the corresponding quarter of 2012, an improvement on the original estimate of a 5.5% contraction. It is the ninth consecutive quarterly contraction for the Cyprus economy on an annual basis. The contraction began in the third quarter of 2011 and the economy of Cyprus entered recession in the second half of 2011. Based on seasonally and working day adjusted data, GDP growth rate in real terms is estimated at 5.6%, compared with the third quarter of 2012. Preliminary figures released on November 14, predicted a shrinkage of GDP of 5.7%. Compared with the second quarter of 2013, the contraction of the economy stood at 0.8%.

Eurozone countries have agreed to pay Cyprus another installment of financial aid as the country progresses with its economic reforms, the Eurogroup of finance ministers said on Monday. The European Stability Mechanism, the euro zone’s rescue fund, is set to pay €100 million to Cyprus by the end of the year while the International Monetary Fund is due to sign off on a further €86 million on December 20 the Eurogroup said. In a written statement, the Eurogroup welcomed the conclusion of the troika’s second review mission that the adjustment programme was on track. “Macroeconomic conditions are developing in line with programme projections, albeit uncertainty remains high. Fiscal consolidation is advancing in line with the agreed consolidation process,” the Eurogroup said.