Malta’s presidency of the United Nations Security Council this month became a reality, with our country taking the central seat in this important institution.

Considered as one of the most important bodies within the United Nations, the Security Council is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security.  It is made up of 15 members: five permanent and ten non-permanent ones.  Malta is one of the latter.

It is the first time since November 1983 when Victor J. Gauci represented Malta in the president’s seat that Malta has held the presidency of the UN Security Council.

So far, activities on the prevention of the use of children in armed conflict, and on the impact of rising sea-levels on international peace have been Chaired by Malta, with another high-level debate set to follow next week on the war in Ukraine – a highly important subject which is being discussed on the one-year anniversary of the start of Russia’s invasion of the country.

The Malta Independent got to witness the two activities organised so far up close and personal at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City up close and personal last week, besides also meeting and speaking to the diplomats who represent Malta at the UN.

In the week we were present there were also other matters arising: for instance, the UN’s response to the earthquake in Syria was the subject of a closed discussion in the Security Council.  Some hours later, the UN announced that an additional two corridors would be opened for aid to the earthquake-stricken sanctioned country.

There is a certain degree of pride in seeing Malta’s representatives sitting at the centre of the iconic debating table, and setting the agenda for the day’s proceedings.

The subjects themselves which were chosen to be up for debate by the Security Council were both ones of great significance from a humanitarian perspective: we can all agree that children should not be anywhere near armed conflict, and we can also all agree that rising sea levels can have a huge impact on international peace, be it through shifting borders or even through the wide scale demographic and migration crisis that it could cause.

Indeed, Malta was praised across the board during the discussions for bringing these subjects to the fore, including by the UN’s Secretary General Antonio Gutierres in his address at the start of the rising sea levels debate.

One thing must, however, be pointed out. It is good that Malta wanted to prioritise climate change as one of the issues during its presidency, but one asks…. has Malta done enough to protect the environment at home? We have way too many cars on the road. We don’t really generate enough energy through renewable sources, and have not yet really made a push to change that situation. We, along with many other countries, need to do better.

The debate which Malta will be chairing on the one-year anniversary of the Ukraine War will surely, in terms of scale, be one of the most important discussions which will be had this year.  Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine continues and, while the Ukrainians have halted the advance and in past months pushed the Russians back, there is still no end in sight.

The debate at the UN’s Security Council will give an opportunity for a strong message to be sent to Russia and those supporting it that they must put a stop to their actions. Malta by chairing this debate will have written itself into the history books.

Praise for all of this must be given to those who handled Malta’s application to be elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations, starting from 2011 up to when Malta was elected last year. But praise must especially go to Malta’s permanent representation at the United Nations.