Following the allegations against the "Ark of the World" NPO in Greece, a new administration was appointed by the government, yesterday. The new board of directors comprises of seven members with significant expertise in the areas of social services, children’s rights and child health. It is headed by Alexandra Martinou, who is the director of the Mazi gia to Paidi (Together for the Child) charity, and also includes a former Supreme Court prosecutor, Ioannis Tentes.
The Social Affairs Ministry’s ability to step in and appoint a new board was made possible by legislation passed in April allowing the government to intervene when private organisations offering social services fail or violate or abuse their mandate.
The charity, offering support to displaced children and mothers runs a network of shelters in different parts of Greece, has been hit with two separate yet parallel sets of accusations since the case was made public last week.
The new Board is headed by Alexandra Martinou, who is the director of the Mazi gia to Paidi (Together for the Child) charity, and also includes a former Supreme Court prosecutor, Ioannis Tentes.
Alexandra Martinou belongs to one of the strongest shipbuilding families in the country. Wife of shipowner Andreas Martinos, has stood out over the years for its social contribution.
The “Together for the Child” Association, of which Ms. Martinou is a founding member, began operating in Greece in 1996. It is an association of non-profit associations and foundations that work for the well-being of more than 30,000 children every year. The main aim of the association is to offer help to children and young people facing poverty, disability, abuse and illness.
Alexandra Martinou is the president of the Association “Together for the Child” since 2018, and with important initiatives it has undertaken, it has contributed to addressing poverty, disability, abuse and illness of minor children.
The new Board of Directors is:
- Alexandra Martinou, economist, President of the Union “TOGETHER FOR THE CHILD”, as President of the Board of Directors
- Ioannis Spyridon Tentes, former Prosecutor of the Supreme Court
- Ioannis Papadatos, Pediatrician, former Director of the Intensive Care Unit “P. & A. Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital
- Giorgos Protopapas, General Director of SOS Children’s Villages
- Errika Oikonomou, psychologist, Secretary of “Friends of the Virgin”
- Andreas Zompanakis, economist, President of the “Hara” Center
- Konstantinos Gloumis-Atsalakis, lawyer, director of the Ministerial office of the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs
“The new members of the Board of Directors are taking on a difficult and currently charged task. We thank them for this. Mrs. Alexandra Martinou, as President, like all the other members have proven during their career that they have the experience and know-how to cope. As a Ministry and as a society we should support them for the children of Kivotos, for all of us,” said the Deputy Minister of Labour, Mrs. Domna Michailidou.
