Malta continues to advocate the ‘Island for Islands’ initiative

Whilst attending the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting in London, United Kingdom, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade Ian Borg continued to convey the message of continuous support for the ‘Island for Islands’ initiative.

Minister Borg explained how Malta, also through the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council, continued to advocate the need for more initiatives for small island developing states due to the economic and social impact, among which is that of climate change. He said that the ‘Island for Islands’ initiative, which was started by Malta, will continue to be one of the main priorities in our country’s foreign policy.

During this meeting, Minister Borg also intervened on the need for a society that is more resilient to peace and what is just. He praised the Commonwealth’s commitment in assisting a number of states in having a strong democracy and recalled how Malta, through Vote16, expanded its opportunities for more people to have their say in society. He further said that in the United Nations Security Council Malta also strongly pushed for the importance of women having more active roles in society.

The Minister also participated in the 62^nd meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group after Malta was selected to be part of this action group at the last CHOGM held in Rwanda.

In the margins of these meetings, Minister Borg had a bilateral meeting with Minister of State of the United Kingdom for Europe Leo Docherty. The implementation of the agreement that was signed a few weeks ago with the Secretary for Foreign Affairs James Cleverly in Malta as well as the agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union were discussed.