Street in Foini renamed in honour of Zeta Emilianidou

The late Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou was honoured in the picturesque Troodos village of Foini as a street has been named after her.

The street leads to the new wing of a community welfare centre in the village, with the ceremony attended by her son Achilleas Emilianides and officials from the deputy social welfare ministry.

Costas Chambiaouris, commissioner for the development of mountainous communities, said: “Zeta’s road will be the path to achieving morals, values, humanity, duty and honesty – values she taught us in her life.”

On April 3, 2013, she was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Insurance by Anastasiades and stayed in the post for the duration of his presidency. She was widely respected as a minister who was trusted by unions and employers’ organisations.

Emilianidou was seen to be in touch with the needs those she was tasked to help as the minister responsible for social welfare despite the challenges posed by government bureaucracy and the disruptive transition to digital systems that have seen delays in the payment of benefits, which she was quick to acknowledge.

As minister, Emilianidou promoted a series of reforms with particular emphasis on social welfare issues, workers’ rights and gender equality issues at a time when Cyprus was still going through a financial crisis, and more recently a pandemic, coupled with an ever-increasing number of refugees and migrants needing financial support.