In Malta and Gozo there are about 4,000 unborn children every year. Around the world there are about 200 million unborn children every year.
1. The Malta Unborn Child Movement - MUCM - Project
The MUCM project is about green pregnancies, about loving and responsible care in the womb. The first environment to man. It is also about "climate change" in the womb.
For this purpose MUCM has been promoting the interests, and especially the healthy development, of unborn children in the Maltese islands, the EU and beyond, for many years.
2. MUCM Charter on the Unborn Child
On the 15th March, 2007, the first MUCM Charter on the Dignity, Rights, Protection and Development of the Unborn Child was presented by MUCM to Dr. Edward Fenech Adami, President of the Republic of Malta; on the 4th May, 2007 to Catholic Archbishop Paul Cremona and on the 15th May, 2007 to Dr Alfred Sant, Leader of the Oppostion in the Maltese Parliament and Leader of the Malta Labour Party.
3. MUCM delegation meets Dr Chris Said, Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue and Consultation at the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta on 30-7-2008
The delegation was made up of representatives of organisations in MUCM, namely, Joe Vella, Vice President, Unjon Haddiema Maghqudin, who led the delegation; Tony Mifsud, MUCM coordinator, Gino Axisa, Social Assistance Secretariat, Catholic Action; Mario Farrugia Borg, Malta Branch, World Islamic Call Society; Mary Said Buttigieg, Malta Midwives Association; and Grace Attard, National Council of Women. The delegation left a memo to Dr Said.
Dr Said considered very seriously the concept of the "sustainable development of unborn children in the womb" presented by MUCM. He suggested MUCM meets the Malta Council for Economic and Social Develpment on this subject at an appropriate time.
Dr Said considered also the concept by MUCM of early childhood develpment in the womb and the importance which the University of Malta, especially the Faculties of Education and Social Work, should give to this subject in the near future.
There was agreement that official statistics should be kept by the health authorities in Malta of children who are born to parents who consume alcohol, drugs and tobacco at the time of, or before, conception, so that children of these parents are given special attention, protection and care, "before as well as after birth" as highly recommended by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989.
4. Tree for Life & Monument to the Charter on the Unborn Child
On Pro-Life Day 3-2-2008, MUCM planted the Tree for Life and erected the Monument to the first MUCM Charter on the Rights, Protection and Development of the Unborn Child near the Emergency & Casualty Department at Mater Dei Hospital, Malta.
5. MUCM meets the Commissioner for Children
On 20th January, 2009 an MUCM delegation led by Tony Mifsud, MUCM coordiantor, met and left a memo to Carmen Zammit, Commissioner for Children at the Office of the Commissioner at the Social Work Centre, St Venera.
Cared for children in the womb turn out to be contented children and, later on, loving and caring spouses and parents and caring corporate managers.
The Commissioner should consider including unborn children at risk of abuse on an official "child protection register", as is the case in Scotland.
The local health authorities should start publishing official statisitics of newborns affected by the consumption of harmful substances by their parents during pregnancy, as they do with the around 360 tobacco-related annual deaths in the Maltese Islands.
In any "quality education" blueprint, as outlined by Dr Grace Grima, DG Educ Division (Times 28-11-08) , early childhood development and education, also in the womb, should be a top priority. This holds good also for the University of Malta.
It is high time Maltese society and its politicians put also the first environment for man, the first world for the unborn child... the mother's womb... constantly on their green agenda."Sustainable development" also of the child in the womb should be a main pillar of attention and active work of the Malta Council of Economic and Social Development.
The mother's womb is normally the first environment to the unborn child. There are also other types of environments to the unborn which should also be constantly on the "green" agenda�like experimental medical laboratiories!
The project Benniena by Agenzija Appogg, a government agency, should be allocated more financial and human resources to give a better service. The State should also help programme HOPE of the Gift of Life Foundation materially and financially to give also a better services in this regard.
When the National Forum called by the Commissioner for Children is called, drinks and the negative effects of other substance misuse and abuse on babies in the womb is to be included in the agenda. The Forum should include also the contribution of fathers to a healthy fetus, the social and economic effects of having an impaired child, and the benefits of discontinuing substance use after becoming pregnant.
In 2006 the Malta Unborn Child Movement made extensive submissions to the EU Commission on the first EU Charter on the Rights of the Child. In 2008 MUCM met Maltese MEP Dr Simon Bustuttil on the matter. MUCM asks the Commissioner for Children for her support on the matter at EU level.
MUCM is also particpating actively, with other NGOs, in the Platform for Children set up the Commissioner for Children during 2009.
6. Conference on the Unborn Child at Islamic Centre, Paola, Malta during the EU Year for Intercultural Dialogue
The Conference on Quality Life for the Unborn Child, held on 7-11-08 at the Islamic Centre Paola, Malta, was organized by the Malta Unborn Child Movement - MUCM - and Malta Branch of World Islamic Call Society (MB-WICS) an organisation in MUCM. The Conference was chaired by Imam El Sadi and was very well attended.
The Malta Midwives Association, the Social Assistance Secretariat of Catholic Action, the Nationalist Party, the Labour Party, the Fokolare Movement and the Gift of Life Foundation, organisations in MUCM and the Malta Ecumenical Council, the Maltese Association of the Order of the Knights of Malta, and the Commissioner for Children made very significant contributions.
Imam Mohammed El Sadi, Catholic Archbishop of Malta Paul Cremona, Pastor Jeffrey Williams of the Anglican Church in Malta, Dr. Joe Cassar, the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, and Dr.Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Shadow Minister, delivered messages and/or prayed for the unborn child. Dr Joanna Drake, the EU representative in Malta, was unable to attend.
Keynote speeches were delivered by Tony Mifsud, Coordinator of MUCM, Mario Farrugia Borg of MB-WICS and Dr Karin Vincenti of the Gift of Life Foundation.
The Conference, which was held on the occasion of the EU Year for Intercultural Dialogue, promoted the dignity, rights, protection and development of the unborn child from the moment of conception. This as befits every human being.
It was pointed out that the Movement's commitment towards the realization of these goals is found in the first Charter of the Movement on the Rights, Protection and Development of the Unborn Child which the Movement published in 2007 and which was presented to the civil and religious authorities in Malta. The Charter was also sent to the European Commission in 2006 as a contribution from Malta towards the drafting of the first EU Charter on the Rights of the Child.
The suggestion for the formulation of a strategic plan, propelled by the government, the opposition, the trade unions and civil societry to help parents, professionals, managers and others working in this field found consensus. All should work to find the right balance between the needs of the family and the needs of the workplace in the interests of would-be mothers and fathers and their unborn children.
The conference expressed its hope that the intercultural dialogue on the unborn child, especially by the promotion of green pregnancies, will develop further so that the contribution of the Movement, and others, in this field, will be of great benefit to unborn children on the local and european level, and beyond.
7. The MUCM Paper - Unborn Children - The Common Concern of Mankind - for discussion
After the Conference "Quality Life for the Unborn Child" on 7-11-08, organised by MUCM and MB-WICS a common paper emerged entitled: Unborn Children - The Common Concern of Mankind.
The paper has been sent to a number of catholic, muslim and hindu scholars and people in Malta for further development. A small task group will soon be set up by MUCM to develop the paper further.
8. Pro-Life Day - Sunday 1-2-2009 - Manifestation in favour of Life by MUCM at Mosta, Malta
On Pro-life Day, Sunday 1-2-2009, for the third consecutive year, MUCM held the March for Life from the Mosta Main Square to the Monument to the Unborn Children between Mosta and Naxxar in Malta, and the Manifestion in favour of Life near the Monument o the Unborn Child. The Mass for Life was held at the Mosta Catholic Parish Church. Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Mercicea concelebrated the Mass for Life with the College of Parish Priests of Malta.
Dr Tonio Borg, the Deputy Prime Minister; Dr Josesh Cassar Parliamentary Secretary for Health at the Ministry for Social Policy; Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Mercieca; Dr Justyne Caruana, Shadow Minister for the Family; Noel Formosa, Mayor of St Lawrence for the Association of Local Councils of Malta and Gozo; Fr Mario Tong, Archpriest of Mosta for the Malta College of Parish Priests; Yvonne Acqueros Ebejer of Alternattiva Demokratika; Dr Paul Chetcuti Caruana, Mayor of Mosta; Grace Attard President of the National Council of Women, and Paul Vincenti of the Gift of Life Foundation attended and spoke during the activities.
9. Climate Change Committee and the Unborn Child
On 11th February, 2009 the Climate Change Committee (CCC) of the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs posted the MUCM recommendations on Climate Change in the Womb on the CCC website.
Dr. David Spiteri Gingell, Chairman of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) thanked MUCM for showing interest in the work of CCC, for participating in the consultation process.and for making its suggestions. He assured MUCM that the CCC was assessing the feedback presented by MUCM. The chairman added that It was the intention of the Committee to prepare a report on all feedback received and to subsequently present a report together with its position on such feedback to the government of Malta.
10. MUCM meets the Assistant Director and staff of the Personal and Social Education Section of the Education Division in Malta
On 5.12.2008 the MUCM sent the following memo to Ms Josephine Vassallo, Assistant Director, Curriculum Studies, Malta Education Division, Floriana, Malta.
MUCM is writing to suggest that children in government schools be made more aware that prenatal substance exposure is a major cause of destroyed human potential for so many children when they are still in the womb.
MUCM consists of 45 Maltese oraganisations, including the four political parties, the main trade unions, the Association of Local Councils, the Malta and Gozo Colleges of Parish Priests, a number of government agencies, commissions and departments and a number of church and civil society organisations.
In The Times (of Malta -3-12-08) Dr Mario Rizzo Naudi, Member of the College of Family Doctors, stated that statistics about teenage mothers "...are shocking because they show Maltese teenagers are experimenting with sex at increasingly younger ages and we are not taking the necessary precautions."
MUCM, and many others, are also aware that many of these teenagers, and many other young people of child-bearing age, are big consumers of alcohol, tobacco and drugs, of any sort, which may be - probably are -causing a lot of physical, behavioural and psychological harm to the 4000 babies in the womb, in Malta and Gozo, annually.
The recent surveys conducted by the Health Promotion Dep of Malta , which compared Maltese youths with EU and Amercian youths on substance, especially alcohol, abuse have painted a very grim picture of Maltese youths, located at the top of the consumption ladder.
Four years ago MUCM was aware that 14 newborns at St Luke's Hospital in Malta were put on methodone because their parents consumed drugs before, or during, the pregnancy. And today...? We need to focus on prevention.
MUCM thinks that there is a lack of awareness of unborn babies at risk of abuse because of the consumption of these substances by their parents, at any age before, or during, the pregnancy.
It is known that the vast majority of pregnant teenagers apply for social assistance, costing the Maltese taxpayers millions of euros each year. Maltese society should be talking also about the social and economic costs of having impaired children because of the harm caused to them when they were still in the womb.
Pediatrician in many parts of the world contend that innocent children are being devastated by substance abuse; that binge drinking does a lot of harm to a developing baby and that society is today creating a group of children who will be unemployable. They become adults who cannot function.
MUCM met Ms Vassallo and her staff at the Curriculum Centre, Floriana, Malta on Friday 13-2-2009
It was agreed that:
MUCM supplies information on the subject to the PSD Team for distribution to schools: obtains permission for the PSE Section to use the 14 episodes Channel TV 22 series on the Unborn Child by MUCM collaborator Antoniette Axiaq: asks Dr Anna Vella of Agenzija Sedqa and the Cana Movement for the Family to contribute to news on unborn children and their parents in schools..
PSE team will instruct PSD teachers in schools to browse the Internet on unborn children and related matters, Like climate change in the womb, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, development, sustainable development, and from Oct 2009, and the resumption of academic year, the PSE team will hold seminars on unborn children with PSE teachers when MUCM representatives will be invited to address PSE teachers.
11. Mass for Mothers and Fathers and their Unborn Children
On the 26th March, 2009 the First Mass and Blessing for mothers and fathers and their unborn children were held at the Marsacala Parish Church, whose Patron Saint is Saint Anne, mother of Mary, the mother of Christ. The parents were given printed copies of the discourse, (prepared by MUCM) between God the Father, the unborn child and the parnets of the unborn child. They were also given a certificate containing the blessing for the occasion.
The Mass and Blessing will be repeated at the Marsascala parish church on Sundays 28-6-09, 27-9-09 and 27-12-09 at 10.15 am. Expectant couples and relatives are most welcome to attend.
12. MUCM in the Malta Press
MUCM published articles and letters in the local press on diverse aspects of the MUCM Charter on the dignity, rights, protection and development of the unborn child.
13. Inter-faith Celebration of Life in Malta - 6-11-09 - by Malta Unborn Child Movement
Inter-faith Celebration of Life in Malta organised by the Malta Unborn Child Movement on Friday, 6th November , 2009 at Robert Samut Hall, Floriana, MALTA
Main participants: Chairperson: Oliver Pace, Fokolare Movement, an MUCM organisation - Father Edgar Busuttil, Catholic Community - Mrs Leyla Brassesco, Bahai Community - Imam Mohammed El Sadi, Muslim Community - Mrs Sonaal Nandwani, Hindu Community - Tony Mifsud, Coordinator, Malta Unborn Child Movement. Mrs Shelly Tayar, Jewish Community, was indisposed
On Friday November 6, 2009 the Malta Unborn Child Movement – MUCM - organised the first Inter-faith Celebration of Life in Malta at the Robert Samut Hall, Floriana Malta, kindly offered for the occasion by the Malta Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. The Coordinator of MUCM and representatives, school children, teachers and parents from of the Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Bahai communities in Malta recited prayers, made presentations and drawings, sang songs and read poems and short essays on the unborn child.
A resident from “Dar Guzeppa Debono” for single mothers, in Gozo, and an organisation in MUCM, related her experiences on the unborn child
Joe Aquilina, of the Couples for Christ, an organisation in MUCM, with Agatha Zahra and Joe Callus sang songs on the unborn child.
Sculptor Ganni Pace exhibited his sculpture - Mother and Father and their Unborn Child
Towards the end of the Inter-faith celebration of life by MUCM , in the presence of Dr Douglas Kmiec, the US Ambassador to Malta, MUCM, together with the Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Bahai communities in Malta, issued a declaration that they will work with other faiths and civil institutions, in Malta and abroad, together and separately, to promote, everywhere, in a proactive way, the dignity, the well-being, the care, the protection and the wholesome and sustainable development of unborn children in their mothers’ wombs...their first home, their first environment, their first world.
The Malta Unborn Child Movement and the faith-based communities in Malta sent a warm welcome to the pro-life and pro-family civil society leaders from Europe and the United States of America who had to attend the Fourth Annual European and USA Summit of Civil Society Leaders in Malta on Friday, 20th November, 2009 at the Hotel Phoenicia.
14. Pro-Life Day - Sunday 7-2- 2010 - Manifestation in favour of Life by Malta Unborn Child Movement - MUCM - at Valletta, Malta
On the occasion of Pro-Life Day 2010 organised by the Malta Unborn Child Movement . MUCM - on Sunday, 7th February, 2010 at the Oratory of St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta, Malta's stance against abortion was reiterated during a manifestation for the rights of the unborn child.
The manifestation was attended by representatives of the government, the Labour Party, Alternattiva Demokratika, representatives of organisations in MUCM, Girl Guides and Scouts of Malta and members of the Catholic, Islamic, Jewish, Hindu and Baha’i communities in Malta who are working with MUCM on this subject.
Tony Mifsud, coordinator of the Malta Unborn Child Movement (MUCM) said MUCM has been promoting green pregnancies, awareness about the negative effects of climate change on the unborn child in the womb - the first home to man, his first environment and his first world - and the wholesome and sustainable development of the unborn child. It has also defended the unborn child against all kinds of threats to his life and limbs. MUCM is also in the process of building a working relationship on the dignity, rights, protection and development of the unborn child with Maltese academics, especially at the University of Malta.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said that in the context of an anti-life culture, Malta would not follow the rest of the world but retain its pro-life stance.
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