Children are being robbed of their childhood, their human rights are being horrendously violated, and without diplomacy they will continue to be killed in disturbing and distressing wars, the former President warns.

Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who heads the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, said conflict resolution through diplomacy was not just a moral imperative but a legal obligation.

“No one wins with wars and conflict. Only the armaments industry does… We need world leadership, not war mongers,” she said, calling on leaders to inspire a future where children grew up in a Mediterranean and a world free from the horrors of conflicts and wars.

Ms Coleiro Preca was speaking at an event held to mark the UN International Day for Conflict Resolution, which was held at Villa Bighi last night, October 19, in collaboration with the Foreign Ministry and Med21.

The event was attended by Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Speaker Anglu Farrugia, and the Mediterranean Children’s Movement, which is founded and presided over by Ms Coleiro Preca

It tied in with the Lysistrata Award-Giving Ceremony, which was held in Malta for the first time and was presented to Fr Dionysius Mintoff, Peace Lab founder, for his peace-building initiatives.

The 92-year-old Franciscan priest — who founded the voluntary organisation that houses and feeds a number of adult asylum seekers and runs educational and employment programmes for the migrant community — joins Nobel Prize Laureate winner Ouided Bouchamaoui as a recipient of the Lysistrata Award.

During Thursday’s event, MFWS representative Lorella Gatt also gave an update on the Children and Armed Conflict Project — launched earlier this year following Malta’s election on the UN Security Council — which involves a mapping exercise of the available services, or lack of, for children in Malta who left their home countries because of war and armed conflict.

The next phase of this project will focus on listening to affected children and their families, as well as young adults who arrived in Malta when they were children, to then put forward a set of recommendations to decision-makers on how to improve their lives.

While this process is under way, the world is facing tremendous upheaval and increased conflict in Russia, Ukraine and the Middle East, and Ms Gamba said that now more than ever the world had to reaffirm its values of peace.

“We can see all around us the human cost of armed conflict. Political will for dialogue and the search for common ground is the frame upon which peace can be built. The truth is that there should never be an alternative to the peaceful resolution of conflicts,” Ms Gamba said.

Peace and diplomacy were the values Ms Coleiro Preca kept pressing for throughout her address: “Peace is not achieved by the promise of helping in acquiring armaments, but through true and effective honest brokers… Today, I stand before you with a heart heavy from the weight of knowing millions of children are fleeing from conflict — 43.3 million children were forcibly displaced due to conflict and violence by the end of 2022.

“And, this does not include the number of children on the move from the recent and real-time horrendous developments in the Middle East. The effect of conflict on children is horrifying!

“I urge all nations, leaders, and individuals to stop the suffering of children in conflicts and act with urgency to prevent further harm. The future of the Mediterranean, and indeed the world, depends on our collective responsibility to an unwavering commitment to peace. Let us work together to put wars and conflict to history!”