Updated 6.10pm
Prime Minister Robert Abela told a UN security council meeting on Wednesday the United Nations must reform to increase its effectiveness.
The meeting in New York discussed international peace and security.
Malta's two-year term as a non-permanent member of the security council comes to an end in December.
Abela told his colleagues that as a committed multilateralist, Malta would continue to stand firm in its support for the UN.
“We are not naive – we know – just as the Secretary General outlined - that the UN can and must reform to increase its effectiveness.
“But you don’t walk away when you notice imperfections. You redouble your efforts fix them.
“At a moment in history where everyone is excited about the potential of artificial intelligence … let us not forget that – alongside intelligence - there are two other core human competences - humanity and compassion,” he said, adding that the UN was an expression of all three.
The meeting - the council's 9732nd - was called Leadership for peace: united in respect of the UN Charter, in search of a secure future and was presided over by Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob.
In his address Abela said as Malta’s term came to an end, it was time to reflect: statistics, he said, could never tell the whole story and only human stories provided the true picture.
“Behind every grim statistic is a grim human reality. It is to the shame of our world, that 2024 has brought far too many heartbreaking statistics and far too many stories of heartbreaking human misery.
“We must never lose sight of those stories. As leaders, we must never hide behind statistics.
“We must not forget the mothers in Gaza, whose sons and daughters were taken from them, or those who are living in constant fear of losing their child in the next strike.
“We must not forget the families and friends of hostages being held by Hamas, who do not know if, or when, they will ever see their loved ones again.
“We must not forget the orphans and widows in Ukraine who lost everything when their city was bombed and razed to the ground," he said.
Abela said those who were suffering had been let down by leaders whose actions had shown contempt for the principles upon which the UN was founded.
He urged his colleagues to never lose sight of the plight of Sudanese struggling to secure food amidst a devastating conflict and women and girls in Afghanistan who were being erased from society through the enactment of repressive and oppressive edicts.
He also referred to children in Syria and Yemen who had to endure over a decade of conflict, and Venezuelans whom he said were deprived of their freedom because of their steadfast commitment to democracy.
“We must never lose sight of the plight of… teenagers in Haiti who are being deprived of an education and recruited by ruthless gangs instead.
“Of the Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including those killed as collateral damage in frequent military raids and settler violence, as well as those who lose their homes and suffer displacement.
“And even when conflict comes to an end we must never lose sight of its ramifications, the suffering left behind,” he said, referring to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia - who continue to suffer the horrific consequences of landmines, long after the fighting has ceased, leaving many with life-altering injuries.
The horrific experiences of these people must motivate world leaders to strive harder to fulfil the aims set out in the United Nations Charter, he added.