Humanists Malta

20/08/2026

🌿 Comino is not simply a beautiful place. It is part of our shared natural heritage, and decisions affecting it deserve the highest level of scrutiny.

The decision by the Environment and Resources Authority to approve extensive tree interventions and preparatory works connected with the proposed Comino development has understandably raised serious environmental and governance concerns, particularly while the development itself remains subject to legal challenge.

We welcome the work of Moviment Graffitti and other environmental organisations seeking to scrutinise these decisions and protect Comino through lawful civic action. Moviment Graffitti has now launched an appeal against the ERA permit and a wider campaign to defend the island.

For humanists, care for the natural world is inseparable from care for human wellbeing. Healthy ecosystems, biodiversity and access to our shared natural heritage matter, but so do transparent institutions, evidence-based decision-making and public authorities acting in the public interest.

Development decisions can have consequences lasting generations. They should therefore be approached with caution, openness and genuine respect for the environmental value of places such as Comino.

Protecting our natural heritage is a matter of responsibility to one another, to future generations and to the living world we share. 🌍

Moviment Graffitti is crowdfunding its appeal against the ERA permit and further action to defend Comino. If you would like to support their efforts, you can find more information and contribute here:
https://movimentgraffitti.org/2026/08/13/moviment-graffitti-launches-crowdfunding-campaign-to-appeal-era-permit-and-defend-co

We are also encouraging people to join the Save Comino WhatsApp group – via https://chat.whatsapp.com/JuimMwYnRxGA9ZHdR8QZQ3

19/08/2026

📰 Malta’s attitudes on abortion are changing — but remain deeply ambivalent.

A new MaltaToday survey suggests growing support for removing prison sentences for women who have abortions. This is an important shift: punishment, fear, and stigma have no place in healthcare.

But the same survey also shows continued support for prison sentences against doctors who provide abortion care. This contradiction matters.

A humane society should not force women into fear while threatening medical professionals for offering care, information, and support. Criminalisation does not protect dignity — it pushes people into silence and turns moments of vulnerability into legal danger.

At its heart, this is about bodily autonomy, healthcare, conscience, and human dignity.

Humanists Malta believes that people facing difficult reproductive decisions deserve compassion, evidence-based care, and respect — not punishment. 🤝

MaltaToday abortion survey | Remove prison sentence for women: 43% yes, 35% no, 22% undecided • Remove prison sentence for doctors: 38% yes, 41% no, 21% undecided

19/08/2026

🇫🇷🕊️ A historic moment for dignity and end-of-life choice in France.

France’s assisted dying law has now come into effect, after years of debate and constitutional approval. This is a major step for personal autonomy, compassion, and the right of people facing unbearable suffering to make deeply personal decisions about their own lives.

The law also shows that end-of-life choice can be approached carefully: with eligibility criteria, medical assessment, informed consent, waiting periods, and safeguards.

For humanists, this is the heart of the matter: people should not be forced to endure suffering against their will when they are capable of making a clear, informed, and deeply personal choice.

This is not about treating life lightly. It is about respecting the dignity, conscience, and autonomy of those facing the most difficult circumstances.

Following Malta’s own consultation process last year, this conversation should continue with seriousness, empathy, and without further delay. 🇲🇹🤝

Right to assisted dying established for patients with conditions assessed as incurable and causing unbearable pain

12/08/2026

🕊️ It began with a question.

A student challenged prejudice.
A young man chose conscience over silence and free thought over fear.

That young man was Sherif Gaber.

Since then, he has faced years of prosecution, detention, uncertainty and persecution for expressing his views on religion, secularism, science and human rights.

His case is a stark reminder of what happens when states treat peaceful expression as a crime.

Freedom of conscience belongs to everyone. Every person should be free to examine their beliefs, question them, change them, leave a religion, practise one, or reject belief altogether — without fear of punishment or persecution.

Freedom of expression also includes the right to discuss and criticise ideas peacefully, even when those ideas are deeply held.

Blasphemy laws do not protect people. They protect power from criticism.

Humanists Malta stands with Sherif Gaber and with everyone whose rights are threatened simply because they think, speak, believe, or disbelieve differently.

No one should be imprisoned for asking questions.
No one should be persecuted for disbelief.
No one should disappear for thinking freely.

https://humanists.uk/2026/07/17/freedom-to-leave-or-change-religion-under-growing-threat-pew-data-shows/

12/08/2026

In a world that can often feel increasingly divided, uncertain and polarised, the values of humanism matter more than ever.

This week, representatives of the global humanist movement adopted the **Ottawa Declaration on Humanism as Resistance**, affirming that humanism is not simply a set of beliefs or principles, but an active approach to life.

For us, humanism means choosing compassion over dehumanisation, reason and evidence over misinformation, solidarity over division, and the equal dignity and freedom of every person.

It means thinking critically while remaining humane. It means listening, questioning, learning and recognising our responsibility towards one another.

And it means understanding that progress cannot simply be taken for granted. Human rights, democracy, freedom of thought and the dignity of every individual need people willing to stand up for them.

Humanism is more than a philosophy. It is a way of approaching life, and one another, with **compassion and reason leading the way**.

🌍 Read more about the Ottawa Declaration on Humanism as Resistance: https://humanists.international/policy/the-ottawa-declaration-on-humanism-as-resistance/

Reason CriticalThinking Democracy Solidarity HumanistsInternational

09/08/2026

🌿 9 August — International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we pause not only to remember injustice, but to recognise wisdom.

For centuries, Indigenous peoples have endured a litany of abuses. But they have also preserved ways of living that challenge some of the modern world’s deepest failures: disconnection from nature, inequality, unchecked power, and the idea that progress must come at the cost of community.

Their traditions remind us that knowledge is not found in one civilisation alone. It lives in many languages, landscapes, memories, and practices. It is carried through relationships, responsibility, care for the land, and respect for future generations.

A humanist reflection on this day means looking honestly at the violence of the past while also recognising the dignity, creativity, and moral insight of Indigenous peoples today.

To honour Indigenous peoples is not only to remember what was taken. It is also to listen to what was never lost. 🌍

09/08/2026

🌿 9 August — International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

Chief Luther Standing Bear’s words carry a powerful humanist insight: we are not separate from nature. We are part of it.

As sentient beings, our lives emerged from the natural world. Our bodies, emotions, needs, and relationships are all shaped by that connection. When we learn to treat nature as something lifeless, disposable, or beneath us, it becomes easier to treat other human beings in the same way.

A heart cut off from nature can also become cut off from empathy.

Indigenous traditions have long shown that land, community, memory, and responsibility are inseparable. Protecting the natural world is not just an environmental issue — it is a moral obligation.

To live humanely means recognising our dependence on one another, on future generations, and on the earth that sustains us all. 🌍

09/08/2026

🌿 9 August — International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

Kondiaronk’s words still cut through centuries later.

They are not simply a rejection of money, but a challenge to what happens when wealth becomes the measure of human life.

As humanists, we do not condemn wealth itself. Resources, prosperity, and economic security can help people live with dignity. But wealth should be a means to an end — not the end itself.

That end must be human happiness, freedom, dignity, and flourishing.

When money becomes more important than people, societies lose sight of what truly matters: care, community, fairness, honesty, and the shared wellbeing of all.

On Indigenous Peoples Day, Kondiaronk reminds us that other ways of living, thinking, and organising society have always existed — and that many Indigenous voices saw clearly the dangers of greed, inequality, and power long before modern societies were willing to admit them.

A better world is not measured only by what it produces, but by how humanely people are able to live within it. 🌍

25/07/2026

Humanists Malta is proud to be among the NGOs and civil society organisations endorsing this joint statement.

We urge the Maltese Government to support EU measures banning the import of goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Trade should not contribute to, normalise, or profit from violations of international law. Products linked to illegal settlements are not a neutral commercial matter. They are connected to occupation, dispossession, and the denial of fundamental rights.

A principled commitment to human rights requires consistency. Malta should support action that upholds international law, protects human dignity, and ensures that European markets are not complicit in sustaining injustice or undermining the prospects for peace in the region.

We encourage you to read the full statement and learn more about the issues at stake.

Malta has failed to act when it counted, NGOs say

21/07/2026

In an age where many feel overwhelmed, isolated, or tempted by authoritarian certainty, Fromm calls us back to the deeper meaning of freedom. 🌱

As humanists, we affirm the dignity of the individual ✨ and the shared responsibility to build a more compassionate, democratic, and humane world. 🤝🌍

Enjoy Humanists Malta’s infographic mini serial exploring Erich Fromm’s reflections on freedom and human potential. 📘✨