Maternal thoughts and history lessons

Women parliamentarians can legislate and push for change, ensuring that if things are happening the way they should not happen, this will no longer happen.

This was my message when concluding the two-day conference by the Women in Parliament (WIP) Global Forum held last week at the Verdala Castle. In my first speech as the Maltese Parliament’s ambassador to the Forum, I stressed the fact that being women, mothers and legislators we have what it takes to better understand the human and social aspects of most current issues of international importance. The conference discussed – at parliamentarians’ and experts’ level – a most intriguing theme: ‘Maternal Health and Refugee Women in Malta’.

A challenge not to be ignored

Although refugees and migration can be controversial and challenging topics, they cannot just be ignored. As to my specific remit within the Maltese executive, we have been increasingly sensitised to a very particular intersection – that of refugees and disabilities. My Parliamentary Secretariat for the Rights of People with Disability and Active Ageing has been constantly involved – through the relevant agencies, authorities and service providers – in addressing this phenomenon.

Although my day-to-day work oversees the drafting and execution of policy, I believe that the most important elements of what was discussed during the WIP conference are precisely those relating to the human and social element. It’s not just a case of tackling a problem or a policy area, but doing this mindful of the real people who these areas affect and who are at the very centre of our approach in both the disability and elderly sectors. It is basically this human face of policy that the Labour Government has sought to emphasise in fulfilment of its electoral pledge to create a fair society for everyone.

A collective response

According to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, people with disability make up around 15 per cent of the global population, a significant minority of which is comprised of refugees and migrants. This figure accounts for an estimated 6.7 million people with disabilities forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, generalised violence and human rights violations, according to statistics published by the Women’s Refugee Commission in 2014.

And of these persons, refugee women definitely stand out – usually, unfortunately, after heart-breaking stories in the media. As a woman and a mother myself, I do not even want to think about what it would be like to flee a war zone for my life and the lives of my family, with young children, but particularly if it was necessary right before or after childbirth, or if childbirth happened in horrible conditions, miles away from home, or in a refugee camp.

Acquired disabilities during the migration process are, in fact, a factor that is increasingly worrying, not least in migratory flows experienced in Europe in recent years, according to the earlier Thematic Analysis cited, published by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency. When identified, these disabilities place an obligation on member states – including Malta – to provide specific support throughout the arrival, registration and asylum process and, most importantly, throughout the integration process that takes place immediately afterwards.

It is for these reasons that we have been taking these matters very seriously in Malta. We strive to put humanity and compassion above the evergrowing populism that has engulfed part of North America and is increasingly threatening sections of the European continent. A word of praise is certainly due to all the people working in the security services under the guidance of my colleague Minister Carmelo Abela.

Lessons from our history

Malta strongly believes that equality and the full enjoyment of human rights will only be achieved if everyone is equally recognised, educated, empowered, protected and assured of all the dignity and respect that every single person has as their birthright. Equality is central to the Maltese government’s priorities, with a number of initiatives being carried out to this end. We have come a long way since our own colonial past,

<< Justyne Caruana achieving independence barely 50 years ago and healing the scars of the past with modern legislation and radical social changes. We have learnt that freedom – whether political, economical or cultural – is a very delicate seed that needs to be nourished and treasured.

We have grown to cherish our achievements over the years and reach a status where equality, equity and social justice are the main pillars of our democracy. Nevertheless, we have experienced our own scars in the way thousands of hard-working families were compelled to seek a better future elsewhere around the globe when emigration – although planned and structured – seemed to be a kind of remedy to the economic fragility of our last years as a colony.

Looking forward entails knowing our past. We believe in having the necessary credentials to better understand the plight of other people. And here we are today, mid-way through our task of presiding over the EU Council and also the Commonwealth organisation – two internationally important roles that we strive to fulfil by bringing people to share ideas and solutions through key factors such as social inclusion.

The WIP meeting came at a historically important moment for Malta and we seek to contribute to a reasonable but clearer way forward for the organisation and its challenging agenda on the eve of the 38th anniversary of achieving our country’s real freedom in 1979.

Anonymity and cowardice

I am fully aware that, being in public life, I should expect criticism from all sides to spur me to work harder. Furthermore I am aware of – and by now well-used to – the other type of adversity that may not always show its face as it lacks the basic truth. Of late, mudslinging has plumbed even greater depths, with ‘hate language’ becoming part of everyday agendas in certain desperate circles.

In all honesty I have little time for this, as I believe Napoleon Bonaparte said it all centuries ago: “The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.” They might very well resort to anonymity. Dishonesty, cowardice and duplicity are never impulsive, they are planned as a strategy of hatred, which can however be perceived from miles away. Hand on heart I know I have no enemies in my line of work, but perhaps Voltaire got it right: God defend me from my friends, I can defend myself from my enemies.

The Gozo scenario

The number of projects realised in Gozo for the elderly and those with a disability stand out to prove further that Gozo and its people are at the very centre of Labour’s first years in government. The introduction of so many services in both fields for the very first time in Gozo has been a first that no one can deny and no one would ever dream of undoing. Each morning, as I make my way to my work in Malta, I take solace in recounting the various establishments that have already become landmarks in the reality that older persons and those with disabilities have now grown to live. During the last week we have taken further initiatives.

The setting up of the Gozo Active Ageing Commission was another first I have been targeting to ensure that national services and measures are factually national. The new body will see that the implementation of the National Active Ageing Strategy can focus better on the island’s particular requirements. This necessitates the direct input by Gozitans through a new commission composed of very active older citizens from different walks of life. They have now been tasked with formulating a policy document with recommendations to better the quality of life of older persons in Gozo.

In our endeavours towards services that are truly national, the setting up of Aġenzija Sapport in Gozo means that services for people with disability and their families are readily available. The services provided by the agency are now being complemented with new vehicles that are equipped for various transportation requirements.

It was indeed significant that the final session of this round of Gvern li Jisma’ was concluded in Gozo by the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister. This is a clear and strong message that Gozo is indeed at the core of the Government’s agenda.