On January 24th, Peter McGuire, Counsellor at the Permanent Observer Mission of the Order of Malta, addressed the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at a special meeting titled ‘Social and Economic measures to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity’.

Reiterating the importance of this meeting, Peter McGuire stressed that ‘we must continue to work towards the prevention of structural discrimination in the hope that victims of any kind feel safe enough to come forward and receive the support and protection they need to live their life.’

He concluded by saying that ‘with future generations already facing uncertainty in their lives, mainly from our misuse of the earth’s resources, the least we can do is to respond swiftly in protecting and supporting the next generation in the fight against indiscriminate acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes such as sexual violence.’