Meeting with the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-Fam)

Meeting with the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-Fam)

Permanent Mission of Malta to The United Nations New York

9^th December 2008

On 9^th December 2008, the eve of the 60^th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the President of the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), Mr. Austin Ruse presented to H.E. Saviour F. Borg, the Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Malta to the United Nations, a Petition that stresses that proper consideration must be given to “The right to life of every human being, from conception to natural death, each child having the right to be conceived, born and educated within the family, based on marriage between a woman and a man, the family being the natural and fundamental group unit of society”; and “The right of every child to be educated by his or her parent, who have a prior and fundamental right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”

The petition was launched 60 days earlier and had to date collected around 330,000 signatures worldwide.

Present for the meeting were: H.E. Martha Lorena Alvarado de Casco (Member of Parliament of the Republic of Honduras), Mr. Piero Tozzi (Executive Vice-President, C-FAM), Ms. Wendy Wright (President, Concerned Women for America), Mr. Pawel Wosicki (Polish Federation of Pro-Life Groups), Ms. Jadwiga Wosicka (Polish Federation of Pro-Life Groups and Ms. Noelia Garcia Ayuela (Institute for Family Policy, Spain).

Also present for the occasion held at the Permanent Mission of Malta to the United Nations, were: Dr. Hector Bonavia (Deputy Permanent Representative) and Mr. Claude Bonello (First Secretary).

In an exchange prior to the presentation, Ambassador Borg outlined the importance that the Government of Malta gives to the family which is recognised as the fundamental unit of society. He added that the Permanent Mission of Malta to the United Nations closely monitored developments taking place in the UN as well as took active part in the discussions on family matters and related issues.    Malta strongly defended the right to life and on several occasions in different fora Malta made its voice heard to speak against the issue of abortion.  Ambassador Borg also recalled the statements delivered by the Prime Minister of Malta at the UN General Assembly where he specifically referred to the link which exists between the promotion and protection of human rights and the right to life.  Ambassador Borg furthermore explained in some detail the position Malta had taken at the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994 as well as at the Beijing Conference in 1995 on this issue where Malta had entered reservations on the language contained in the final documents of the these Conferences and had continued to maintain this position since then.  

Mr. Austin Ruse, on his part, expressed his firm support for the position taken by Malta and stated that C-Fam greatly appreciated the strong national statements delivered by Malta in the various UN meetings.  The C-FAM petition safeguarded these rights and called upon Governments to reaffirm the original understanding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The petition was presented to a press in conference held at the UN on 10 December 2008.