National Council of Women of Malta - Promoting Equality of Opportunities

National Council of Women of Malta
Annual General Meeting 2005 - Saturday 29 January 2005
Approved Resolutions

Reaffirmation of Policy

The National Council of Women in Conference assembled at its Annual General Meeting on Saturday 29 January 2005.

Notes with satisfaction measures taken by Government and relevant authorities in implementing a number of NCW recommendations and resolutions of the past years including:

Measures in the National Action Plan on Employment (NAP 2004 – 2006) on gender equality.
Measures taken by the NCPE regarding the participation and portrayal of women in the media
The inclusion of the gender perspective in the Malta Sustainable Development Strategy 2004-2009 (NCSD)
Measures taken in Budget 2005 to enhance empowerment of persons with disability.
Measures in the National Action Plan to address social exclusion and poverty.
Incentives in Budget 2005 to increase investment for research and development (R&D)

Reaffirms its policy as expressed in its resolutions and recommendations over the past years and urges the relevant authorities to take action on outstanding issues including:

Malta’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals
Legislation on domestic violence and the implementation of preventive measures, including a multidisciplinary programme of early detection and awareness raising at all levels of education
Ensuring the implementation of a Gender Equality Policy and Sexual Harassment Policy at the workplace
Setting up the necessary mechanism to implement the principle of Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value.
Equal representation of men and women in politics and in economic decision-making bodies
To further develop interdisciplinary protocols in cases of alleged rape as defined by the WHO
Implementation of the National Breast Screening programme for women at high risk
Ensuring adherence to the Precautionary Principle on the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Legislation on Bioethics
More awareness of preventive health for all ages amongst the general public

Resolutions for Approval

1. Extending gender equality in areas other than employment

Education

Integrating a gender perspective in preschool, primary, secondary and tertiary education and in lifelong learning

Men and Gender Equality

Incentives to encourage the participation of men in childcare services
Allocation of funds for research on the role of men in gender equality

Equality to access to goods and services
In line with the Council’s formal approval to the directive on access to goods and services of the 14 December 2004

NCW urges Government

to amend the Gender Equality Act to include equality to access to goods and services
and to set up the necessary structures to implement this directive

The Reformed Pensions System

Men usually have a higher pension than women mainly due to the fact that women have breaks in their career because of family responsibilities, such as: care of children or dependent adults. These breaks should not penalize women in their pension payments.

NCW recommends

A system in which the calculation factor for the reformed retirement pension addresses the pensions gap.

2. A. Immigration

Aware of the European Commission’s communication on the managed entry in the EU of persons in need of international protection and the enhancement of the protection capacity of the regions of origin
Aware of the national consensus reached to address the issue of immigration that is of a very sensitive nature to the Maltese situation
Aware that half the world’s refugees are female (49%), children under the age of 18 (43%) and under the age of 5 (11%)

NCW urges

the Maltese members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and
local authorities concerned that during the process of studying the potential advantages of the proposed single asylum procedure (common asylum policy) the following recommendations are taken into consideration to ensure:

the preparatory phase would be an adequate period of consultation, debate in preparation for community legislation.
the sharing of responsibility between states in all regions.
the monitoring of change in transit countries and countries of origin
analysis of migration in relation to gender and age
primacy of the Geneva Convention over subsidiary protection status

2 B. Trafficking of Women in the context of migrations

As full members of the EU, there is the need for Malta, together with all EU member states, to address the issue of trafficking of women and children in the context of migration at National and European level, in fulfillment of the Beijing Platform for Action.
Governments, the judiciary, the police of receiving countries, transit countries, countries of origin, UN agencies and NGOs need harmonization strategies.

NCW recommends the following priority for Government:

to establish an adequate meaning of the definition of trafficking and recognize it as a form of violence and therefore as a major violation of human rights
to legislate measures in relation to prevention, protection and prosecution of perpetrators at all times as stated in the Palermo Protocol
to strengthen and harmonise the role of other actors involved in the fight against trafficking of human beings
to produce guidelines on how women’s grounds for asylum are to be assessed
to examine existing national legislation and recognize the importance of international instruments that should be ratified by all countries.

3. NGO legislation and regulation

There is the need to create the right environment for NGOs through clear definition and proper recognition, reflected in appropriate laws and regulatory processes and developed in consultation with NGOs
NGOs should be recognised not only for their social contribution, but also for their contribution to the economy of the country

NCW urges Government
to take the necessary steps to give priority to an adequate consultation process and debate and to establish appropriate laws and regulatory processes for the recognition of NGOs in Malta

4. Youth

a. Juvenile Delinquency and Violence
Juvenile delinquency has become a significant problem. Juveniles are increasingly being used in criminal networks, created by adults, in areas such as prostitution, drugs, sexual abuse and other criminal activities. New methods of intervention are required to address the issue.

NCW recommends that Government:

designs programmes to tackle the range of factors that play a role at different levels of society: individual, family, school and community.
broadens the scope of the juvenile justice system in tackling youth crime.
reviews existing systems for dealing with first time offenders/young offenders
examines the need to understand deeply the family situation and social cohesion problems which cause juvenile delinquency
facilitates and utilises resources of NGOs working with youth
addresses the issue of the representation of violence on modern media technologies and its effects on mental health

b. Adolescent Pregnancy

Adolescent childbirth is a global problem. 10% of births worldwide are to teenage mothers. As future mothers, young women are educators of the next generation. It is therefore even more important that young women are given an appropriate education

NCW recommends that Government

enhances programmes at all levels of education that address both young women and men on the problems of sexual abuse and adolescent pregnancy
Provide the necessary support services to NGOs working with youth to act as pressure groups to achieve changes in education, social church and health practices

5. The Elderly

a. Strategies for extending the age of exit of men and women from the labour market

The promotion of active ageing has been identified as one of the three priority areas to reach the Lisbon targets.
There is the need for long-term strategies for a sustainable Reformed Pensions System

NCW urges Governmebt and relevant stakeholders to include:

financial incentives to discourage early retirement and to make employment financially more attractive.
access to training strategies and lifelong learning as soon as employees enter the labour market.
effective labour market policies that anticipate change and manage restructuring successfully
good working conditions conducive to job retention, particularly in terms of health and safety
flexible employment conditions for retaining older workers in employment towards the end of their careers
the elimination of all forms of age discrimination in the recruitment process in compliance with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.

b. Care for the Elderly
NCW also urges Government

to address the issue of the standard of care given to elderly citizens including those residing in homes
to provide more training to carers in this field leading to a code of ethics that will ensure respect for the dignity of elderly citizens
to create a more homely environment, which will help them retain their independence longer by involving their participation

6. Promotion of Vocational Education
Updating of employee skills is a crucial factor for the success of an enterprise or organisation as well as a contributor to the economic well-being of a nation. Higher skills also lead to improvements in productivity through higher standards of performance and greater flexibility

NCW recommends the necessary measures that:

encourage the participation and retaining of women in the workforce by further providing flexible learning opportunities.

further recommends:

implementing the long overdue national framework for the award of vocational qualifications that will improve not only the public perception of vocational educational training but that it will also lead to the much needed investment in VET
introducing a comprehensive and flexible system of national occupational standards based on employment-led statement of competence and that are prepared in consultation with learning providers and representatives of social partners
the provision of opportunities to gain recognition for non-formal and informal learning through the separation of learning processes.
the setting up of professional training and assessing centres,

7. The Digital Divide

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) covers a wide range from radio, television to telephony and internet. ICT has brought in a new economy through the above electronic means that have the potential to be a gender equalizer.

NCW recommends:

that studies be carried out to address women’s access to credit and financing, and career development to ensure sustainable gender-equitable development in ICT.
the introduction of the necessary support structures for women to combine their traditional role in the family household and income earning work without leaving their homes.
centres for distance learning for all ages

8. MCESD Civil Society Sub-Committee

Whilst deploring the lack of consultation of MCESD with the MCESD Civil Society Sub-Committee in matters of national importance,

NCW calls on government to:

recognize the social and economic contribution that Civil Society Organisations can provide through their respective experts
set up, together with the rest of the MCESD stakeholders a consultation and communication structure that will give a functional role to the Civil Society Committee