The Special Envoy for the New Forms of Exclusion was appointed by Sovereign Order of Malta on 2 April 2020.

It is a Special Diplomatic Mission under the rules of the Convention on Special Missions adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 8 December 1969, entered into force on 21 June 1985 (United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1400, p. 231).

The Envoy’s Office is located in the Palau Dalmau, at Montcada 18, in (08003) Barcelona, while residence is in the Pedralbes neighbourhood.

In addition to participating in the celebration in Spain of the Feast of St. John the Baptist (24 June), Patron of the Sovereign Order of Malta, the mission also commemorates each year the Safer Internet Day (6 February) and the World Day of Social Communications (21 May).

As stated by Pope Francis on 27 January 2024 to the Conference of the Ambassadors of the Sovereign Order of Malta, its diplomacy is an instrument of apostolic activity among the international community, witnessing God’s love to those in need.

An ethic tech for a better world

The rapid and disruptive social implementation of systems based on artificial intelligence poses a challenge with few precedents in the history of humanity. It represents an anthropological and epistemological challenge with ethical implications in all human areas.

Used without ethical criteria, specially the generative one, AI can supplant reality and the human being himself. However, used properly, it offers unthinkable possibilities to complement people, especially the most vulnerable, and be a key instrument for inclusion, health or peace, overcoming gaps and diseases that until now were almost insurmountable.

For this reason, reading in the signs of the current times its historic mission of Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum, the Sovereign Order of Malta promotes an independent group of high-level experts, innovative actions to prevent digital addiction or promote digital literacy and good practices of principles-based AI.

The Special Mission, a diplomatic instrument to turn threats into opportunities, also formulates proposals in the main forums that make up the international agenda on this issue, such as the Holy See, the UN (WHO, ITU, UNESCO, UNICRI and ILO), the EU, the CoE or the OECD, as well as the Tech-Diplomats Conference and the Oxford Digital Diplomacy Research Group.