Switzerland signs a financial agreement of CHF 1 million in support of CMP
Release Date: 23 October 2023
PRESS RELEASE
(Nicosia, 23 October 2023) – The Swiss Confederation signed an agreement on 11 October 2023 for the total amount of CHF 1 million (approximately €1.05 million) in support of the work of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP).Switzerland’s donation will be dispersed over four years (2023-2026). The first instalment of €500,000 will support CMP’s genetic analysis in 2023 and this contribution brings Switzerland’s financial assistance to the CMP to a total of €571,000 since 2014.
The CMP was established in 1981 by an agreement between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot leaders, under the auspices of the United Nations. The CMP Project on the Exhumation, Identification and Return of Remains of Missing Persons in Cyprus became operational in 2006 and is co-funded by the European Union.
In 2023, these funds will support the CMP with its goal to identify and return the remains of missing individuals and to bring to an end the uncertainty which has affected the families for so many years.
So far, 1,034 missing persons from both Cypriot communities have been identified and returned to their families for dignified burials.
CMP relies on donor support to implement its bi-communal project that alleviates the suffering of the concerned families.