Dear Colleagues and friends

I came to this Council upon the invitation of a friend of mine, more out of curiosity than anything else, but soon learnt about the amazing work that goes on here. And today I am speaking to you as the President, and I must say not without some trepidation, as I need proove myself as others have done before me. I am sure however that all of you will support me in this challenge ahead of me.

For those of you who do not know me, I am a wife , a mother of four and a granny of five. My other life is my work, running a waste management company and this I have been doing for the last twenty years.

This year there shall be emphasis on intergenerational solidarity. Not that Malta lacks this especially with so many grannies looking after young children while the parents are at work and that is a very good thing. But what about when the children get older and become youths, there is such little contact between this generation and the older one. We need to keep this bond going. Many youths are not sure what they can receive from an older person except many a time a reprimand of how they loose their time on computers and in leisure. But perhaps that time is not lost but gained. And this is where the Council can maybe launch a project on this theme, where so many of you can share your knowledge and skills with others of different generations, especially these youths. The younger generation yearns for the knowledge and wisdom of an older person and in turn the older person feels invigorated in the presence of youth. Each generation can contribute and gain from one another. If one only thinks about the knowledge and skills that can be shared . We can make the Council a showcase with a project such as this. There are so many men and women out there who are now retired, but their responsibility to share their knowledge and skills does not stop at retirement age. We need this knowledge, it is a sacrilege if it goes to waste. It is this way that certain skills get lost through the ages, not to mention life values.

One other aspect that must be pushed forward, is entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial spirit. Women entrepreneurs are few although on the increase in the last few years. We must support these women and assist them as best we can, as being your own boss can be very scary and daunting at times. Recently there was the issue of the extension of the maternity leave. An employed woman does not loose any benefit when she stops working to have her children , but what about the woman who is self employed, who will support her financially? With the birth rate forever decreasing , women must be given space to have children. Our frenetic life seems to have forgotten to equate for this too. In some european countries women are paid by the government for one year even two to have their children and stay at home. Many women have chosen to do so and the birth rate has increased. Governments must plan more long term and not short term, otherwise there will be no young generation with the result that pension age will move always upwards, as there will be no workers and no contributors to the pension of the next generations. I always say that we seem to be a nation that is forever crisis managing!

I have recently attended a seminar about Social Policy. One needs to have an entrepreneurial spirit also to start a voluntary organisation and we are proud of the huge amount of voluntary work that is present on this island. The Social Policy that is being presently discussed gives us food for thought and we must also discuss and give our feedback so that we can have a policy that works well.

Climate Change is another topic that governments in many countries are tackling. We too need to contribute, but what does climate change mean to the man in the street except that the cost of utilities are forever increasing and therefore need to move to renewables in order to lower these costs, but not informed about the final purpose, that of reducing Co2 and thus combating climate change. But lets not just dwell on what we should not do, but inform the public on why we are taking these measures and what we can do to reduce the problem.

Apart from all these there is all the other ongoing work already started by the previous hard working president. There will be maybe other important and perhaps difficult issues to tackle and respond to, but we as the National Council of Women am sure that as in the past these will be dealt with in dignified manner.

I ask all of you to come forward with your ideas and your projects. You can talk to one of the committees, the executive members, or me , or send an email or simply call. We need your contact to move forward.

I would like to thank all those who have trusted me and believed that I can do a good job. I thank you ahead for your support and hope that we can all work together in the coming months.

Thank you.

Mary