“Stop. Stop the war. We want it over. Children are terrified, anxious, living in fear and deprived of their rights. What happens now? Death. Migration. Poverty. Families split. Children separated and lost. Please stop!” This was the message from the Mediterranean Children’s Movement Children’s Council.
The Movement stressed that “children are being left at the mercy of leaders who have not sought mediation and negotiation instead of war.”
The Mediterranean Children’s Council is presided over by Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who chairs the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society.
Made up of children from six founding countries – Malta, Serbia, Tunisia, Cyprus, Slovenia and Croatia – the MCM is geared to pressure governments and civil society to place youngsters and their future at the top of the political agenda.
The meeting of the Management Board and the Children’s Council of the Mediterranean Children’s Movement, held in Malta between the 19th and 21st of October, condemned all forms of violence against children, saying that it deplored “the horrendous disregard of children’s Human Rights in the Middle East, for over one million innocent children.”
The Council went on to say that, “we rebuke the situation of starvation, dehydration, and lack of necessary healthcare among other fundamental children human rights that innocent Palestinian children are being deprived of in Gaza, and demand the liberation of Israeli children taken as hostages.”
The Mediterranean Children’s Movement said that it is saddened at “the merciless maiming and killings of so many thousands of innocent children by war and conflict.”
It stressed the “need of humane and responsible global leadership, that respects human rights, human dignity, international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention. We expect that responsible global leadership values the lives of all children.”
The Council demanded that “the warmongers in the Middle East stop the war, stop the attacks on civilians and in particular on innocent children.”
The MCM urged all nations, leaders, and the global community “to work for peace, to bring the parties to the negotiating table, and to support in finding solutions.”
It concluded by saying that, “we urge all child rights defenders to stand up for and with Children in our region and beyond, to portray a strong voice in favour of Children’s human rights.”
With bloodshed and war no one wins!
File photo: MFWS