Angeliki Gkerekou

Angeliki Gkerekou (Greek: Άντζελα Γκερέκου, born on 26 March 1959 in Corfu, Greece) is a Greek politician, architect and actress. She is the Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports and a member of the Hellenic Parliament at the Prefecture of Corfu.

Political Career

Angeliki Gkerekou was elected MP with PASOK in the Prefecture of Corfu, in the National Elections of 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2012. In 2005 she was elected to the Political Council of PASOK Party and worked successively on the sectors of Solidarity, Volunteering and Tourism. With PASOK's victory in the national elections of 2009, she was appointed Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, where she remained until May 2010. During the parliamentary session that resulted from the 2004 National Elections, Angeliki Gkerekou was a member of the Standing Committee on Cultural Affairs and a member of the Special Permanent Commission for Equality and Human Rights of the Greek Parliament. On her own initiative, the Special Permanent Commission for Equality and Human Rights Series Special Conference on the "Rights of the Child ' was conducted. Opinions and suggestions of a large number of representatives of agencies and NGOs -active in Greece in matters concerning children were discussed throughout the conference. Particularly concerned on the issue of reforms in the legal framework of adoptions in Greece, Angela Gkerekou submitted to the Commission for Equality, a series of concrete proposals to improve the speed of the process.

As a member of the Committee on Gender, Angela Gkerekou participated in missions representing the Greek Parliament at the "Meeting of the Women Parliamentarians" , held in Skopje, and at the "World Meeting of Women Parliamentarians for the Rights of Children and Adolescents" in Rome. Angela Gkerekou was Vice President at the Friendship Commitee between the parliaments of Greece and Japan. In this context, she participated in the Parliamentary Mission to Tokyo in the spring of 2006. During this visit, she held meetings with stakeholders and representatives of major travel and tourism organizations of the Japanese market, aiming to promote the image of Greece in Japan.

In the House resulting from the 2009 National Elections, Angeliki Gkerekou was a member of the Committee on Social Affairs and Chairman of the Special Permanent Committee of the Regions of the House.

Under her Presidency of the Special Permanent Committee of the Regions, Angeliki Gkerekou convened meetings in which all the institutional representatives of regions were invited, informing about each area’s issues and problems. The result of these meetings was to identify major issues that were then forwarded to the relevant Ministries aiming to finding solutions or acceleration of legislative initiatives. The main topic of these meetings was the Regional Development and the new operational management structure that has resulted from the implementation of the "Plan Kallikratis". In October 2011 she represented the Committee at the 3rd Inter-parliamentary Conference between the European Parliament and National Parliaments on Regional Development and Cohesion Policies based on the preparation of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, which took place in Brussels. Important sub-themes discussed in the Committee of the Regions of the House under the Presidency of Mrs. Gkerekou were the issue of 'Islands' and' Mountain 'identification of areas of the Region, the promotion of Delphi and of the issue of' Transport Equivalent "To The Remote Island Areas, the Strengthening of Primary Production sector in the country, the Emergence of" Local Identities " of the regional areas and the mountain and Winter Tourism. As part of the Committee’s work, on the initiative of Mrs. Gkerekou, the issue of promotion and visibility of Olympus mountain was discussed. Finally Mrs. Gkerekou proposed the organization of an international conference on the protection and promotion of Olympus, under the auspices of the Greek Parliament, that was accepted by the chairman of the House.

Angeliki Gkerekou was also Chairman of the Friendship between the parliaments of Greece and Brazil.

She has undertaken a series of social initiatives, the most important taking up the post of Head of Department of the Greek world Campaign Global Progressive Forum, which was aimed at raising awareness and to put pressure on governments to meet their financial obligations undertaken with the signing of the "Declaration of the Millennium" at the UN in 2001, the initiative to update and enhance the movement of Body and Organ Donor initiative for the Rights of Children.

Education

She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Rome. At the same university she attended seminars in Psychology and Sociology. She has worked as an architect in Y.PE.CHO.DE. on programs for the rehabilitation of degraded areas of Athens and has produced a large number of architectural projects for the region of Corfu.

Angeliki Gkerekou additionally has a significant career in acting. She graduated from the Academy of Theatre Studies in London, while she also joined and studied with the group of the Italian director Federico Fellini. She has worked in film, television and theater, and has collaborated with many important Greek directors. She has been a key member of the Ionian Cultural Movement, which was aimed at reviving the Ionian theater during the period 1987 – 1988.

External Links

Official Website of Angeliki Gkerekou (greek)

Biography of Angeliki Gkerekou in the Official Website of the Hellenic Parliament (english)