Call to sign UN children's rights convention

The Commissioner for Children has called for a collective effort to implement the UN Convention on Children's Rights.

In a statement issued to mark International Children's Day, Helen D'Amato insisted that "full observance of the principles laid out in the UN convention should be considered a shared responsibility of government".

Ms D'Amato also stressed that full compliance with the convention, as ratified by Malta in 1990, should help guarantee the eradication of poverty and social exclusion.

"This in itself further highlights the urgent need for the convention to be observed and respected by families, service providers and all other relevant authorities including the government.

"In ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Malta made a commitment to fully comply with the principles laid out in it, which should be respected in its entirety," she concluded. This issue has been pending for seven years as the government failed to incorporate the convention, which it ratified in 1990, into domestic legislation.