• Mariah Zammit – President
• Cherise Sultana – Vice President
• Michaela Vassallo – Secretary General
• Mikhail Baldacchino – Financial Officer
• Kay Attard – National Officer
• Chloë Cauchi – International Officer
• Nikos Chircop – Advocacy Officer
• Owen Cachia – Youths Community Officer
• Matthew Schembri – Public Relations Officer

Presidential Comment

I’m extremely honoured to be leading such an amazing team. The aim of this team is to make sure that us youths are well represented and our voices are heard. I am looking forward to what the future holds so stay tuned!

Mariah Zammit

The Third Eye wishes the new executive the best of luck for their upcoming term!

The post Mariah Zammit to lead KNZ – 2023 AGM appeared first on The Third Eye.

KNŻ’s Pride Activities

Apart from having a fun set up at Malta’s pride march with a glitter station, photo frames, and a giveaway, KNŻ advocated for gay and bisexual men to be able to donate blood. Gay and bisexual men were legally prevented from donating blood, however, this ban was lifted on September 2, 2022.

KNŻ took to their social media to express their approval:

KNŻ welcomes the government’s decision to finally lift the one-year deferral period imposed on MSM blood donations. Starting today, gay and bisexual men who have been in a monogamous sexual relationship for four months prior to the donation will be able to give blood without any discrimination.

They went on to state that “this is a step forward towards full equality for the LGBTIQ+ community”, something that the organisation will always support.

KNŻ’s Director for Health, Owen Cachia, oversaw the campaign about sexual health, where KNŻ, in collaboration with Nerve Malta, handed out tote bags filled with a free HIV self testing kit, as well as informational material related to sexual health at their stand during Malta’s pride parade.

LGBTI+ Gozo’s Pride Activities

The organisation made history with hosting Gozo’s first ever pride march! KNŻ, The Third Eye, and several other organisations were all present during this historic moment as members of the community took to the streets of Gozo with colourful outfits and banners to show their pride.

LGBTI+ Gozo’s work continues as they are launching a publication of poems and prose:

From coming out to familial acceptance, stigma, representation and pride, we hope to showcase the nuances of being a LGBTI+ person in Gozo and represent our community’s struggles to uphold values of love, diversity and truth.

The organisation encourages LGBTI+ Gozitans to submit their creative work here by November 13.

The post Celebrating Pride Month In Malta With KNŻ And LGBTI+ Gozo appeared first on The Third Eye.

A few weeks ahead of the debate, an unknown source leaked the list of speakers arguing in favour of abortion to pro-life activist Simon Debono who went on to share the list to pro-life groups across Facebook. The speakers were subject to backlash and his efforts to discourage them from taking part in the debate worked as 18 speakers dropped out.

The debate was supposed to be held on fairgrounds, with 27 speakers arguing in favour of abortion and 30 arguing against. Some pro-lifers went as far as contacting the speaker’s parents in hopes they could talk their children out of participating in this debate.

Medical students dropped out in fear of being academically punished. Students were scared that their more conservative lecturers would find out they support the pro-choice movement and would deliberately fail them.

KNŻ condemned this type of behaviour and assured the public that members of the organisation had no knowledge that the list was going to be leaked or used to intimidate others to drop out of the debate.

KNŻ National Officer, Bradley Cachia, stated that the list of speakers was an internal document that all of the people who were going to present on the day had access to, not just members of the executive. The person behind the leak has yet to be identified.

Labour MP Randolph De Battista took to social media to express his outrage concerning the situation. He argued that people should not be publicly shamed for the opinion they have and that “this mentality needs to stop.”

Pro-choice groups have spoken, with Doctor’s for Choice Malta stating the following:

This is how patriarchy works: through intimidation and threats. Nobody should push themselves too hard, but every little bit of courage is a step towards ending oppression once and for all. We’ll win over patriarchy, no doubt about that.

The aim of the debate was to create a safe space where youths could talk about serious matters in a safe space, however it ended with speakers dropping out due to public harassment and fear of academic punishment.

The post Pro-Choice Activists’ Names Leaked Online Ahead Of Debate, Causing Them to Back Out appeared first on The Third Eye.

Due to there being nine positions which needed to be filled and nine candidates, all candidates were automatically elected. However, a vote of confidence was taken by all 15 organisations nonetheless. Considering there were no objections, below are the nine individuals which now form part of KNZ:

• President – Yacopo Baldacchino
• Vice President – Veronika Sytnyk
• Secretary General – Mariah Zammit
• Financial Officer – Mike Borg
• PR Officer – Mikela Chetcuti
• Youth Services Officer – Michaela Vassallo
• International and EU Officer – Chloë Cauchi
• National Officer – Bradley Cachia
• Advocacy Officer – Jacob Callus

Yacopo Baldachino – President

Yacopo is a 25-year-old biology student at the University of Malta. He has served as PRO and President within S-Cubed, Education Commissioner within KSU, Marketing Officer and Secretary General within TDM 2000, as well as a student representative of the Faculty of Science. He has been occupying the role of PRO within KNŻ since March 2021, being involved in initiatives such as the National Youth Parliament, the Environmental Task Force and the Youths and AI subcommittee.

Veronica Sytnyk – Vice-President

Veronika is a 20-year-old law student at the University of Malta. She has served as Head of the Maltese Delegation, Committee President and President in Model European Parliament, as well as the Coordinator of the Irregular Immigration Committee in NYP. She has been occupying the role of Commissioner for Youth Services within KNŻ since March 2021, having worked on various projects concerning diversity, mental health and education.

Mariah Zammit – Secretary General

Mariah Zammit is a 19-year-old psychology student at the University of Malta. She has served as Director for International Affairs and International Officer within KNŻ during the last term and is currently the Vice-President of Pulse Social Democratic Students. Mariah has been involved in iMUN Rome, has been Head of the Maltese Delegation in Model European Parliament, as well as having served as Secretary General of her locality’s youth council.

Mike Borg – Financial Officer

Mike is a 28-year-old fund administrator. He has been involved in ASCS as External Relations Officer and later as President in the UM Wolves RFC at the University of Malta. He currently acts as Treasurer for the Malta Rugby Football Union and has been active in the Maltese Scout Association for years. In 2021, Mike was elected as KNŻ’s Financial Officer.

Mikela Chetcuti – PR Officer

Mikela is a 22-year-old commercial studies student at the University of Malta, intending to pursue digital marketing. She has served as the PRO, as well as the President within the student organisation ASCS (Association of Students of Commercial Studies).

Michaela Vassallo – Youth Services Officer

Michaela Vassallo is a 20-year-old European Studies with Communication Studies student at the University of Malta. She has served as Secretary-General and Vice-President in the European Studies Organisation, as well as the student representative on the board of the Institute for European Studies. Michaela wishes to continue working closely with youths, providing a safe space to discuss modern-day societal concerns.

Chloe Cauchi – International and EU Officer

Chloë is a 19-year-old law student at the University of Malta. After having served as Events Officer within Malta Model United Nations Society, she is currently serving as President of this organisation. She has participated in the Model European Assembly, Model European Parliament, the JCI European Public Speaking Championship and Women2Women. Chloë has occupied the positions of Director for Gozo and Director for Civic Engagement within KNŻ during the last term.

Bradley Cachia – National Officer

Bradley Cachia is an 18-year-old student. In KNŻ’s 2021-2022 work year, he served as Director for Arts and Culture within the Council. He has also worked with KNŻ through the National Youth Parliament for three consecutive years and was a part of a subcommittee that worked on the event. He has also served as a member of the St. Aloysius College Sixth Form’s Students’ Council for two consecutive years and has worked on various other projects in arts and education.

Jacob Callus – Advocacy Officer

Jacob Callus is a 22-year-old University of Malta graduate in European Politics, Economics and Law, and has been serving as the Advocacy Officer in KNŻ since March 2021. He is also the Social Policy Officer of UM Rowing Club. He has worked on projects related to human rights in Malta, the concept of intersectionality in our society, as well as non-partisan initiatives related to the 2022 general election campaign and several public consultations.

The new Executive Committee would like to thank the previous administration for its work and dedication over the past few years, and it looks forward to continuing to work on pertinent issues concerning youth.

New Executive Committee

The Third Eye wishes the new executive the best of luck!

The post Following EGM, KNZ Announces New Executive Following Resignations appeared first on The Third Eye.

By virtue of our nature as human beings, we are endowed with inalienable rights which throughout time, have been granted to us in the form of constitutions and universal human rights declarations. As these are our rights, it should be up to governments to protect them and ensure that everyone has the freedom to enjoy them. That being said, it is just as important for us to be aware of what our rights are, what we deserve in a democratic society, and what we’ve earned as citizens of this country. However, it must also be remembered that along with the rights which we possess, we are also shouldered with corresponding responsibilities and duties. To this end, the Malta National Youth Council (KNŻ – Kunsill Nazzjonali taż-Żgħażagħ) has been conducting an awareness campaign concerning the state of human rights in Malta in addition to the duties and responsibilities which accompany such rights.

As part of this campaign, KNŻ organised a panel discussion in commemoration of Human Rights Day, on the 10th of December 2021, with the event being titled ‘Freedom and Abuse in an Online World: Where do our rights end and responsibilities begin?’. The panel consisted of Athlete and Social Media Influencer Sarah Chouhal, Police Inspector John Spiteri, lawyer, activist and PL electoral candidate Naomi Cachia, and lawyer, activist and PN electoral candidate Emma Portelli Bonnici. Together, the panellists disseminated several topics emerging from the campaign’s main theme, whilst also providing their own insight into the Maltese context in relation to hate speech and online abuse on social media. Furthermore, the panellists also spoke up about their own personal experiences and views with regards to the issues being discussed, ranging from the role of social media companies in combatting online abuse, and the dichotomy between our duties as citizens, and the freedoms chosen by KNŻ as the focal point of this campaign.

Specifically, KNŻ has chosen to focus on freedom of expression particularly, freedom of the press and freedom of speech, with an emphasis on these rights as exercised in a modern setting, particularly via the use of social media, online platforms and technology as a whole. Prior to delving deeper, we must begin by defining these freedoms, and asses exactly what they entail. In so far as definitions are concerned, freedom of speech and freedom of the press stem from freedom of expression, as we see laid out in the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), and which is described as follows:

“1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary. ”

Having laid out the background, one can now conceptualise the theory behind such fundamental freedoms and how they are executed in practice. The campaign sought to draw attention towards the various means in which these rights may operate. Whilst we still make use of more traditional avenues in which we can express ourselves as individuals, particularly by putting pen to paper in order to publish our thoughts, there are several modern methods which can also be used, thus transforming the way in which these rights are perceived by society at large, and the platforms through which they are exercised.

As we have moved from print to a more digital press, so have we adopted a more virtual means of expressing ourselves, and of communicating with one another, beyond purely verbal and physical methods. Amongst the virtual means which we utilise nowadays, one of the most commonly used is undoubtedly social media, with this manifesting itself in the form of several online platforms and outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok amongst others. Now it goes without saying that these platforms have proven to be tools for good and have unleashed a great deal of potential. Nevertheless, social media has also caused exposure to a good amount of harm, with this damage being inflicted through hate speech, harassment, and online abuse. Malta is certainly no stranger to all this, with the comment sections of several news outlets and online platforms often being riddled with mean-spirited remarks, with some also hiding behind the appearance of a fake profile.

It’s easy for people sitting in the comfort of their own homes to hide behind a screen and spew such vile comments. What’s even more important to remember is that such actions have consequences, including legal ones, for those committing these acts, but these consequences can also have considerable ramifications for whoever’s on the receiving end of them. Our rights and freedoms as individuals do not stand in isolation, as they ought to never be absent from the duties and responsibilities which accompany them, and which must never be forgotten. To this end, KNŻ is currently working on issuing a report consisting of recommendations which had emerged from throughout the panel discussion, and this campaign as a whole.

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