Philippa Karsera, spouse of the President Christodoulides, announced her resignation from the Independent Social Support Body (ISSB) through a social media post on 11 January 2026.
She voiced deep sadness and concern, alongside her children, over the past 24 hours’ merciless onslaught on social media. This included dissemination of fake news, defamatory remarks, and allegations of crimes from named and anonymous accounts.
Karsera warned of risks from unchecked spread of malicious, baseless claims, constituting defamation and human rights violations against her and her family. Her position as First Lady provides no excuse for such attacks.
Legal action and compliance history
Believing strongly that safeguarding rights is both a right and obligation, she has sought legal counsel and refuses tolerance for such phenomena.
She reiterated strict adherence to the 2015 House legislation since assuming ISSB Administrative Committee presidency in March 2023. Attacks escalated fiercely after 2024-2025 budget enhancements enabled scholarships for far more children from needy families.
The Committee convenes extraordinarily tomorrow for her resignation notification – not due to reluctance to aid children, her sole driving force, but to halt exploitation of the agency as pretext for maligning her ethics, integrity, her husband’s, and family’s.
Broader philanthropic stance
No Administrative Committee member derives personal gain from ISSB. She extends this stance to other charities where she accepted executive presidency roles, emulating prior First Ladies.
Society must reject defamation via unfounded claims for political, partisan, or vote-seeking motives – this lacks civilisation, political ethics, or public appeal; truth and justice prevail.
Official titles or party affiliations prove unnecessary for aid; humanity, faith-driven pursuit of rightness suffice. As mother, she champions her family; as active citizen, quietly supports children and vulnerables selflessly, honouring justice and rights.
Detailed defence of transparency
In commentary, Karsera emphasised: since March 2023, her initiative posted on www.socialsupport.gov.cy all details – criteria, beneficiaries, payment processes, donor logos. The Committee continually bolsters transparency per Auditor General recommendations, respecting Supreme Constitutional Court ruling.
Repeatedly stated by her and the legal General Accountant (statutory Treasurer) to House and media: ISSB functions as special state fund at Central Bank under 2015 law; donations solely via bank – no cash, no account access or misuse.
All funds are deposited with the State General Accounting treasuries and are subject to audit by the Auditor General. Full documentation, including the names of donors, has been submitted for verification. Neither the Auditor General nor the appointed private auditors have identified any irregularities.
There has been no diversion or misuse of funds. Every euro has been allocated in line with the foundation’s rules to provide student scholarships. Thousands of children have already benefited, and hundreds more are awaiting this year’s awards. All financial records are held by the State General Accounting.
The committee has no financial or professional ties to any of the donors or their business activities and is not involved in, nor informed about, their commercial operations.
First Lady presidency and oversight rules enshrined in 2015 House law.
Source: Philenews
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