Children's issues relevant to Malta

I am writing in relation to the story Young Children to Learn Their Rights (December 11).

First and foremost, I would like to thank The Times for the publicity given to this event, in highlighting the aims and efforts of the Office of the Commissioner for Children to raise awareness on children's rights in a child-friendly manner, through the traveling programme Ġuġinu's Tour due to begin on Monday.

I wished to correct however, the following statement in the article, which appeared as so: "While issues such as child abduction, labour and poverty were not so relevant to Malta, there was still the need to raise awareness on the basic rights of children."

This statement negates the seriousness of each of these issues in Malta, which are indeed relevant and which I have previously worked to highlight through various means, among which the Manifesto for Children launched in 2008, as well as the Annual Reports of the Office of the Commissioner for Children.

Sadly, these issues also require our most urgent attention in Malta and it is important that we remain persistent in our efforts to address them.