A total of 250 mothers who gave birth to multiple children were honoured at an event to mark Mother’s Day on Sunday.

The women had either given birth to five or more children, sent four children to the National Guard, or were elderly mothers who had given birth to four or more children or who had sent three or more sons to the National Guard.

The event was attended by President Nikos Christodoulides and first lady Philippa Karsera-Christodoulides, herself a mother of three daughters. She was at the event proclaimed the honorary president of the Pancyprian organisation of mothers of many children.

“Today, I honour with you the mother of Cyprus, the mother who is a fighter, the mother who took her infant in her arms and rebuilt her future as a refugee with a smile and with faith. Today, I honour with you, all these women who, without ever becoming biological mothers, find a a way to always open their arms to people in need,” she said in her speech.

She also praised her husband’s government for “helping mothers in their everyday lives, supporting their multidimensional role for children, students, the sick, the disabled, and the elderly”.

“A lot of important things have happened in the last two years, and I am sure much more will happen,” she said, before offering criticism for governments which preceded her husband’s, saying, “it is unfortunate that the state waited so long to help mothers”.

“Cyprus is changing, and mothers are finally being supported and gaining the respect they deserve,” she added.