Global solidarity and a renewed commitment to safeguard human dignity and rights were needed now more than ever before, President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said this afternoon.
Addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals summit, attended by more than 150 world leaders, the President said:
“As leaders, we cannot look away.
“As leaders, we must be steadfast champions of social, economic, and political inclusion.
“As leaders we must always give voice to the shared truths of our global community.
“As leaders, we must become advocates for peace and the wellbeing of all,” the President said.
Although, at times, this might not be the most popular position “we must be bold, and defend the rights of vulnerable people wherever they are found”.
She added “human dignity, integrity and freedom should be at the heart of our concerns”.
President Coleiro Preco said this commitment would instil more respect towards fundamental and other rights, and the need for politicians to take a stand where and when those rights were violated.
“The international community must stand firm in its rights-based approach,” she said.
“Future generations will judge us by the efforts we make… We must come together as peers to deliver results and a real change to the benefit of all humankind. The poor have waited long enough,” she said.
The summit intends to formally adopt an ambitious new sustainable development agenda. It will serve as a launch pad for action by the international community and by national governments to promote shared prosperity and well-being in the next 15 years.
Yesterday, the President launched the campaign He for She in a meeting with the UN Women executive deputy director Lakshmi Puri.
In Malta, the campaign, aimed at addressing the inequalities between women and men, will be launched by the President's Foundation during Notte Bianca on October 2.