Kamel Ghribi Joins Global Leaders at Vatican Summit on Children’s Rights

Ghribi: No more empty words. Those who have the wealth must stop investing in weapons and focus on health care and addreas the suffering children.

If we do this then there would be more equality, justice and peace.

Children are the beauty of life, as God said. But we often talk, listen and promise, yet what are promises if we do not put them into action?

Yesterday, I wanted to be very clear when I spoke at the International Summit on Children's Rights, chaired by Pope Francis in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City.

I had the privilege and honour of being invited, and I knew I could not waste this opportunity with empty words.

It does not matter whether you are Christian, Jewish or Muslim. It is humanity that counts, we are all born on this earth to be treated equally.

I read, I study figures that have less ambiguity than words, and I ask myself: Where is the equality? And can there be justice without equality?

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world and 80% of deaths from these diseases occur in developing countries.

In Africa, in particular, the situation is the most dramatic. Here, only 20% of the population has access to basic care and only 5% to cardiac surgery.

Moreover, neonatal mortality from heart disease is 50 per cent, with 330,000 cases per year.

Hence, my appeal to the countries that have great wealth: if they decreased their military spending and invested in healthcare, surely the entire world population would be better off. Perhaps, with greater equality and justice, there would be fewer wars and weapons would be unnecessary.