Malta will continue to support international action and policies that respect the rights of the unborn child and that foster the best interests of children. It will also seek to engage in activities with agencies such as Unicef, said parliamentary secretary Tony Abela yesterday.

Speaking at the high level segment of the first meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday, Dr Abela said: “We are here gathered in our commitment to move on from the important role played by the Commission on Human Rights which, for 60 years, strove to promote and protect human rights.”

He said that the adoption of resolution 60/251 on 15 March 2006 by the United Nations General Assembly had given birth to a new organ – the Human Rights Council – and entrusted it with the noble and bold aim of further strengthening the United Nations human rights machinery.

Malta, said Dr Abela, has supported and will continue to support this process of dialogue as well as the workings of the Human Rights Council itself.

“My country promotes democracy and respect for the rule of law, including respect for human rights. These values form part of the strategic objectives of Malta’s foreign policy – a foreign policy that necessarily reflects the realities and values that have fashioned our way of life.”

Dr Abela added that Malta was an active member of regional frameworks such as the Council of Europe and the OSCE, where it has consistently supported efforts that promote and protect human rights worldwide.

“Malta has been one of the main supporters of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights since its inception and has participated in the work of UN human rights bodies including the former Commission on Human Rights,” he said.

He pointed out that in the new Human Rights Council, Malta has from the outset given its full support to secretary-general Kofi Annan’s proposal and it will continue to strengthen its commitment to this new body by promoting dialogue and cooperation as the primary means of protecting and strengthening human rights worldwide.

Malta will also continue to give special emphasis to the strengthening of gender equality, the rights of women, the rights of people with disabilities and in particular the rights of the child, he said, adding that Malta will continue to contribute actively to the early successful conclusion of the negotiations on an International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and dignity of Persons with Disabilities.

He said Malta also gives special attention and actively supports all efforts aimed at the protection of the basic human rights of children in the world as laid out in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, such as the right to survival, to develop to the fullest, to be protected from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation, and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

“Malta will continue to support international actions and policies that respect the rights of the unborn child and will foster the best interests of children. In this context, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeks a proactive engagement in the activities of Unicef and other international bodies and initiatives dedicated to the welfare of children,” said Dr Abela.

In the year 2006, he said, the world still sees people forced out of their homes, discriminated against on racial grounds, languishing in prisons and under house arrest for upholding political freedom, suffering as a result of inhuman conduct in wartime such as through the use of rape as a weapon of war and the abduction of children to be trained as soldiers.

“The new council, working with the other UN human rights machinery, particularly the revitalised Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, must address these issues, building on the cooperation of member states to achieve respect of their international obligations,” he said.

Dr Abela concluded by saying he hoped the Human Rights Council will instigate a renewed change in the human spirit.