Coordination at national level

• Author: Ellul, Tonio
• Pages: 82-83

82

9 COORDINATION AT NATIONAL LEVEL

Responsibility f or th e Employment and Industrial Relations Act lies with the Minister for

Education and Employment. The Ministry for Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity

is responsible for the Equal Opp ortunities (People with a D isability) Act ; the Minister for

Equality is responsible for the Equal Treatment of Persons Order; and the Ministry for Social

Dialogue, Consumer A ffairs and Ci vil Liberties is responsible for the Eq uality for Men and

Women Act.

The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) con tracted the Equality

Research Consortium to develop, through research and consultation, a framewo rk leading

to a national action plan against racism and xenophobia (NAPARX) in Malta. The NAPARX,

which was published in December 2010 but was never endorsed or adopted by the

authorities, contained a number of strategic objectives and set out specific initiatives to be

achieved and implemented over a three-year period. It sought to build on the existing

policy, legal and institutional framework as well as the v arious initiatives that have been

undertaken by a wide spectrum o f stakeholders, ensuring that these are used to their full

potential.

The action plan was strategic in nature, providing a roadmap to wards the achievement of

its aims and objectives. It was to be seen as flu id and, as such, should have b een able to

adapt to emerging trends and realities. It adopted a human rights-based approach: a

strategic mainstreaming process intended to permeate all levels of national structures. The

plan sought to take into account the different forms of racism experienced by the various

minorities, as well as the different levels of racism at both an individual and

institutional/systemic level. This action plan addressed various minority groups inclu ding

ethnic minorities and linguistic minorities as well as religious minorities. It sought to

combat racism and xenophobia as well as promoting a more inclusive and intercultural

society through a proactive framework. While it addressed issu es of investigation an d

redress, the priority was to create an environ ment that does not accept the presence of

racism and where discriminatory treatment is neither accepted nor tolerated. As such, the

plan sought to address the ‘four Ps’, n amely: prevention, prote ction, prosecution and

partnership. It may be noted, however, that the action plan was not formally adopted by

the national authorities, alth ough it still serves as a set of gu idelines for the NCPE in

carrying out its work.

On 24 February 2014, the Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties

(MSDC) launched a consultation process with the aim of strengthening human rights and

equality legislation and the institutions that enforce this legislation so that they conform

with both the United Nations mod el of a national human rights institution (NHRI) as laid

Ġut in the Paris Princiġl es, and the EurĠġean U niĠn’s equality bĠdy requirements as laid

out in the EU equality directives, namely the Racial Equality Directive, the G ender Goods

and Services Directive a nd the Gender ‘Recast ’ Directive. The Government expressed its

belief that both the current legislativ e and infrastructural frameworks required

reinforcement so as to provide Malta with an adequate human rights and equality

mechanism.

In November 2015, a Human Rights and Integration Directorate was set up within the

framework of the Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Libertie s.

An initial consultation was launched to collect input from the general pu blic, civil society

organisations, trade u nions, business organisations, political parties, governmental

institutions and other stakeholders able to offer a contribution. This phas e of t he

consultation has now closed, and the submissions received were reviewed and a