It has been quite a hectic week for the whole country both at home and in the international scenario. The preliminary and experts’ fora preceding the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, offered us a vast range of topics to discuss. It was also a great opportunity to present my government’s ideas, particularly the fact that longer life expectancy in Malta is in itself proof of how resilient we are as a people.

Resilience is the human ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or challenging situations that bring about a changed scenario. The Harvard Business Review recently dealt with leadership skills and defined resilience as the ability to recover from setbacks, adapt well to change, and keep going in the face of adversity and endemic challenges.

It was most satisfying to note that the Commonwealth People’s Forum has in fact built on work which has been developed in Malta on resilience and vulnerability. Speakers and participants added diverse social and cultural perspectives to the discourse, which has its roots in the experience of Small States. I listed my Parliamentary Secretariat's contribution towards making Malta a showcase for enabling resilient ageing. In the past months, Malta's contribution to ageing policies that contributed towards improved levels for resilient ageing was unprecedented.

Malta now boasts a National Strategic Policy for Active Ageing, a National Strategy on Dementia and National Minimum Standards for Care Homes for Older Persons. As a result of such forward looking policies, Malta is surely one of the Commonwealth countries at the most advanced implementation stages of the United Nations' Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. 

Ageing policy in Malta is operated through a holistic and multi-disciplinary perspective that is attentive to both the health and social-care related aspects of later life. This is evidenced by the government's work in improved opportunities capacity building in ageing welfare, the introduction of the concept of abuse of the elderly in the Maltese criminal code, and the transformation of day-centres and care homes into lifelong learning hubs. 

The session dealt with ageing within the context of health but I stressed that health is only one aspect in the context of ageing and well being. In fact in our case the sector for ageing purposely falls within a different ministry and we promote an active ageing policy and strategy which focus on wellbeing rather than limited to health issues. This in fact reiterates our holistic approach to the increasing challenge of longer life expectancy. We plan and act with a view to directly encourage older citizens to be more resilient and seek strength and adaptability in spite of their age, providing them with the necessary learning and support.  

The Maltese government's initiatives on ageing policy were acknowledged by non-governmental organisations within the Commonwealth. Their objective is to advance the interests of older people throughout the Commonwealth by building capability and capacity in health and care services for older people. 

In a meeting I had with the Board of Directors of CommAge, a non-governmental organisation devoted to ageing issues in the Commonwealth, they expressed their admiration for the Maltese government’s recent advances in ageing welfare. They have also requested assistance to embed Malta's triumphs in human ageing to other countries in the Commonwealth, with the ultimate objective of launching an Ageing Forum at the next Head of States of the Commonwealth Meeting scheduled for 2017. I supported the initiative proposed by the Commonwealth Association for the Ageing and offered to not only assist this lobby and platform via my Commonwealth related role, but also proposed to conduct a pilot study here in Malta, considering our achievements in active ageing that has been singled out by all participants as the best practice.

It is an established fact that as a nation we have resilience in our genes and our elders – given the necessary space and support – are a clear example of it. Their strength of character in many ways shows buoyancy to face reality with staunchness, they make meaning of any challenge instead of crying out in despair, and are ready to act and improvise solutions from thin air. In appreciation of that strong will power, we have to be proactive and cannot but support them through various initiatives and schemes, secured as necessary by relative legislation.

As a government we have to be resilient ourselves to complement the natural resilience of many of our elders. Society at large must not only accept their presence and care for them but is morally bound to appreciate their contribution to community life. And in so doing we ensure full dignity, encouragement and protection.

It is positive that the focus on resilience took centre stage during the past week in a packed programme for CHOGM and its preparatory sessions.  It has been highlighted that various characteristics and attitudes can bring about the necessary resilience within any society and most importantly to its leaders.

Resilience is a matter of personal attitudes. It is not a spelt-out constant in any man-made laws enacted by parliaments. But indeed, parliaments also need to better learn how beneficial resilience can be to its proceedings. As if ever a tangible proof of this was needed, it all happened over the past week in the run-up to CHOGM itself, albeit not related to it. As rightly pointed out by our Prime Minister this week, it has become increasingly apparent that live broadcasts of parliamentary sessions have inspired some to make the House their convenient stage where they can perform and impress whoever is following. Having TV cameras on does not mean the sitting is a cheap show for whoever has the floor.

I must immediately declare that I despise and condemn what has happened.  But    being negative for the sake of opposing and using hate language shows a blatant lack of resilience on whoever adopts such styles. Some people need to know better that they can be more appreciated and successful if they recognize that old fashioned leadership styles no longer work.  It is a decent new type of leadership that is required – that of being critical but constructive, direct but not personal. They need to discover the benefits of being resilient and don’t blame it on others. Our parliament is where resilience matters most.

The well-known saying comes to mind: great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, but small minds discuss people.