U.N.E.S.C.O. Director General recalls Malta's initiative

1998 – the International Year of the Ocean has just come to an end. Before this celebration faded into history, on 23^rd November, 1998, Ocean Day, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (U.N.E.S.C.O.) presented the attached document - "The Ocean Charter" – for the signature of Governments. The Permanent Delegate of Malta to UNESCO, Ambassador Vincent Camilleri signed the Document on the same day.

In his message accompanying The Ocean Charter, Federico Mayor, the Director-General of UNESCO paid tribute to Dr. Arvid Pardo's "historic speech" at the United Nations on 1^st November, 1967:

"In a historic speech on 1^st November, 1967, Malta's Ambassador to the United Nations, Arvid Pardo, called for international regulations to prevent the oceans from becoming a theatre for escalating conflict between nations, to halt the poisoning of our oceans through negligence, and to protect its resources from exhaustion. His words did not fall on deaf ears. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a declaration providing that all sea-bed resources beyond the limits of national jurisdiction constitute the common heritage of mankind. Fifteen years later, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – which attracted a record 159 signatures – provided the international community with an effective legal framework covering navigational rights, territorial sea limits, rights of passage, questions of economic jurisdiction, the conservation and management of living marine resources, and procedures for the peaceful settlement of disputes."

Over three decades have passed since this initiative was taken and the importance and influence of that speech on the international community is still very relevant. The recognition given to Malta's initiative by the Director-General of UNESCO, further highlights "the urgent need to protect this most precious of resources, an affirmation of our commitment to safeguard the rights of future generations, for whom we hold our planet – and its life-sustaining oceans – in trust."