The Order of Malta's international presence supports its humanitarian mission.
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a sovereign subject of international law. It has diplomatic relations with 115 states and maintains relations with international organisations. Since 1994 it has held Permanent Observer status at the United Nations. These relationships help the Order cooperate across borders in medical, social and humanitarian work.
Sources: Constitutional Charter, Article 1, bilateral relations and Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
The Order's current published list includes Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe. It does not list Botswana, Eswatini or the Republic of South Africa as states with bilateral diplomatic relations. Cooperation at an international meeting does not itself establish diplomatic relations.
On 8 November 2025, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited Grand Master Fra’ John T. Dunlap at the Magistral Palace in Rome. According to the Order's account, they discussed humanitarian, health and social cooperation and the possibility of opening diplomatic relations. The Order did not announce that diplomatic relations had been established.
Sources: Official list of bilateral relations and Order of Malta, report on the President's visit.
During the September 2026 General Assembly in New York, the Order of Malta announced the establishment of diplomatic relations with Malawi and Zambia. It also reported signing cooperation and postal agreements with Cyprus, holding bilateral talks with Tonga, and continuing discussions on major humanitarian crises in a meeting between Grand Chancellor Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo and German State Secretary Géza Andreas von Geyr.
The Order described these meetings as part of a week of diplomatic activity to strengthen international dialogue and cooperation.
The Malawi and Zambia announcement and the details of the Cyprus, Tonga and Germany meetings were supplied for this update. For the wider General Assembly programme, see the Order's 24 September 2026 report. Its published bilateral-relations list still displayed 115 states when this page was prepared, so the figure above follows that list.
The Order of Malta's delegation took part in the United Nations conference in Durban. Father Gérard T. Lagleder delivered an intervention on 3 September 2001. The original archive page preserves the delegation details and text.
Father Gérard T. Lagleder represented the Order as Head of Delegation and addressed the summit on 30 August 2002. The English archive page preserves his statement and contemporary documentation.
On 23 June 2026 the Order's Permanent Observer Mission hosted a side event at United Nations Headquarters alongside the High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS. Father Gérard T. Lagleder described the Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard's experience of community-based HIV care in South Africa.
The first two links lead to preserved historical pages. The 2026 meeting is documented by the Order's Permanent Observer Mission.