An analysis of Malta’s main initiatives at the United Nations' General Assembly

Abstract

Since becoming a member of the United Nations shortly after achieving Independence in 1964, Malta has prided herself on her active membership, the highlight of which was Professor Guido de Marco's Presidency of the Forty-Fifth Session of the General Assembly. This paper sets out to discuss Malta's participation in the United Nations and in particular the initiatives which she has put forward. Chapter One of the paper briefly examines the United Nations, its origins, composition and functions. Chapter Two reviews Malta's membership, beginning with her accession to the General Assembly in 1964 and emphasises her demonstrated intention to be more than simply a bystander on the world stage. Chapter Three looks more closely at the particular initiatives Malta has taken at the United Nations: the Law of the Sea, the Question of the Elderly and the Aged, and the Conservation of the Climate; and finally Chapter Four discusses Malta's Presidency of the General Assembly and the way in which that Presidency set the tone for the revitalised General Assembly and United Nations which is emerging in the post-cold war era.