Fraternity, Sorority Members More Likely to Graduate on Time

New research finds belonging to a Greek organization can lead to a number of positive outcomes, especially for women. After reading The Atlantic magazine’s March cover story about the many problems with fraternities, one could easily conclude that the ...

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From Greece to Ukraine: welcome to the new age of resistance

The GuardianFrom Greece to Ukraine: welcome to the new age of resistanceThe GuardianOn 17 June 2011, I was invited to address the Syntagma Square occupation in Athens. After the talks, following the usual procedure, members of the occupation who had their number drawn came to the front to speak to the 10,000 people present. One man in ...

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The Bright Side of Greek NGOs

The role of NGOs in society has been questioned since recent revelations about the opaque funding of numerous Greek NGOs and their imaginary social work and charity programs. Despite some bad examples, numerous NGOs in Greece, relying solely on donations from their members and supporters rather than state funding, have been recognized for their contribution to society. One of them is the NGO Diogenes. Diogenes was founded in 2010 to support homeless and socially excluded persons and help them reintegrate into Greek society. They currently have three active programs: the organization of the National Homeless Football Team, the publication of the street paper Shedia and the campaign A Coffee is Waiting for You. Diogenes’ first initiative was the campaign Kick out Poverty. In 2006, inspired by its Australian counterpart, the head of the organization, Christos Alefantis, created the National Homeless Football Team in Athens, and became the team coach. In 2007 the team participated for the first time in the Homeless World Cup. Since then, the project has expanded to various cities in Greece and every year the teams participate in the Homeless World Cup. The second initiative is Shedia, a monthly street paper. The magazine is being sold exclusively by people belonging to vulnerable groups and those living below the poverty line, most of them homeless. Each seller gets ten copies for free as an initial capital and earns a 50 percent profit on each magazine sold, ensuring a minimum income for their daily expenses. About 16,000 copies have been sold and more than 140 people in Athens and Thessaloniki have found a steady income since the first publication of the magazine in February 2013. Alefantis, who is also the magazine’s director, says the program will also be expanding to Patras and Volos. The NGO’s third initiative is A Coffee is Waiting for You. It gives needy people the opportunity to enjoy a free cup of coffee, paid for in advance by another customer. Various cafeterias in Greece and Cyprus are currently participating in the network, giving excluded persons the chance to cheer up, communicate with other customers and gradually reintegrate into society. According to Alefantis, Diogenes hasn’t been funded at all by the Greek state and doesn’t plan to be. “We try to be financially independent. Our organization hasn’t asked the Greek state for a single cent. We launched Shedia using an 80,000 euro grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation after presenting a full business plan along with our funding request,” he explains. Giannis Kotsos is one of the people whose life has been changed by Diogenes. “My life is now completely different. I started playing football on the Homeless Team and now I’m training to become its coach. I also have a daily income because of Shedia and I can support myself,” he said. Giannis is a living example of the important contribution of some NGOs to society. Many more people like him have benefited from Diogenes and other lawfully operating NGOs. It’s a shame to question and undermine their work and contribution because of some bad examples.

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No Budget Gap, But Undone Reforms Rile Troika

The biggest obstacle for Greece to reach a deal with international lenders – a hole in the 2014 budget both sides now say isn’t there – has been resolved, but long talks were still hung up over 153 unfinished reforms, including whether to extend the shelf life of milk in supermarkets and let the stores sell non-prescription drugs, taking away a monopoly from phamarcists. The unfinished reforms are in what’s called a Toolkit and recommended by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD. The government said it would commit to only 80 percent of them but that didn’t satisfy the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB). The Troika had said there was a 2.4 billion euro ($3.3 billion) gap in the budget but it’s somehow mysteriously disappeared without an explanation and means Prime Minister Antonis Samaras can avoid new austerity measures ahead of critical May elections for Greek municipalities and the European Parliament. Talks are continuing between the government and foreign auditors on the size of last year’s primary surplus and on the proportion of this surplus to be distributed to vulnerable social groups. Samaras has pledged that 70 percent of the surplus – which the government puts at around 1.5 billion euros ($2.06 billion) – will go to low-income pensioners and members of the armed forces and the police who have seen their wages slashed. But the Troika allegedly wants some of the surplus to be set aside in case leaked court rulings ordering the reversal of mandated cuts are confirmed.

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Council of Europe calls for immediate improvement to prison hospital facilities

The special rapporteur on equal access to healthcare at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Swiss socialist Liliane Maury Pasquier, on Monday called on Greek authorities to make immediate improvements to the quality of care provide... ...

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Thessaloniki police make arrest over fatal stabbing

Police in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, on Tuesday arrested a 34-year-old man whom they suspect of stabbing to death a 22-year-old in the early hours of Monday. The incident took place in Aghios Georgios Square in the Rotonda district following a verbal ... ...

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Greece-Troika Headache Talks Down To Milk, Aspirin in Supermarkets

Greece and its international lenders have decided there isn't a hole in the 2014 budget but talks are down to extending the shelf life of milk and if supermarkets can sell non-prescription items such as aspirin.

The post Greece-Troika Headache Talks Down To Milk, Aspirin in Supermarkets appeared first on The National Herald.

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