Speaking at an annual activity organised on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day by the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said that including peace studies in the education curriculum will ensure that a culture of peace can be built for our generations and for future generations.
“By educating new generations of children, young people, and educators, we can better the chances for our future generations to work for peace, and to live in a peaceful and respectful world, where each and every one of us is treated as a valuable collaborator”, said the President.
Mentioning the theme chosen by the United Nations for this year’s Remembrance Day: ‘Holocaust Remembrance and Education: Our Shared Responsibility’, the President stated that said theme sums up the message which the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society sought to convey through its special programme of activities in various schools – for which it collaborated with the Yad Vashem School for Holocaust Studies – that “Holocaust education is our shared responsibility in our commitment to build peace.”
The President stated that commemorations such as the Holocaust Remembrance Day should always be a statement in favour of peace and inclusion, and they must be an opportunity to remember the pain and suffering of the millions of people who were treated in the most inhumane of ways in the past.
“The commemoration of the Holocaust cannot merely be a one-off event”
The President said that the commemoration of the Holocaust must create within us the urge and willingness for effective action in favour of peace, stating that “our acknowledgement of the suffering which the Holocaust represents must be translated into a firm commitment to promote and to prioritise the dignity and the wellbeing of all people who are experiencing precarity, vulnerability, discrimination and abuse.”
The President also stated that the tragedies of the Holocaust must remind us of everyone’s right to live free from discrimination, adding that this right must be defended at all costs, and that we all have a responsibility to ensure that it is upheld for everyone and everywhere.
“Each and every one of us, and the international community at large, has the responsibility to champion the rights of persecuted people so as to ensure that the due respect to minorities and vulnerable groups is given in our daily lives. We must all be aware that millions of people across the world face daily threats”, said President Coleiro Preca.
The President mentioned that many are fleeing wars and persecution and are the targets of inhumane actions based on hatred and intolerance, and that there are also people around us, in the communities which we live in, that similarly feel mistreated, unwelcome and excluded, and who suffer bullying, domestic violence, prejudice and other forms of abuse.
“This is also violence, and has no place in a culture of peace,” stated the President.
“We must do more to promote the concept of dignity and respect in our lives”
The President said that we must act on lessons learned and remind ourselves of our shared obligation to ensure everyone’s rights to live free from discrimination and with equal protection under the law.
The President said that promoting the concept of dignity and respect in our lives is a fundamental component of all the work that we do “as people of good will” to secure peace, solidarity and wellbeing in our communities and our nations.
The President stated that “the reality of human dignity rests at the heart of universal human rights. Human dignity transcends across the barriers of socio-economic status, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and religion”, whilst adding that “when we fail to acknowledge, to respect, and to celebrate the dignity of others, we are the ones who would have lost our dignity.”
In conclusion, President Coleiro Preca encouraged everyone to become tireless champions for the dignity of all people, whoever they are, and wherever they are in the world, as it is in this way that “we will be building peace and wellbeing for the benefit of both our present and future generations.”