Malta has signed and ratified the Council of Europe’s revised European Social Charter. The signing took place at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday. The Charter will come into force on 1 September.

The new Charter is designated to enforce an international guarantee of fundamental social and economic rights. It takes into account the evolution that has taken place since the original Charter was adopted in 1961.

The revised Charter that came into force is an international treaty which embodies in one instrument all rights guaranteed by the original Charter of 1961, its additional Protocol of 1988 and adds the following new rights:

• right to protection against poverty and social exclusion;

• right to housing;

• right to protection in cases of termination of employment;

• right to protection against sexual harassment in the workplace and other forms of harassment; and

• rights of workers with family responsibilities to equal opportunities and equal treatment; rights of workers’ representatives in undertakings.

Moreover, the revised Charter contains the following amendments: reinforcement of principle of non-discrimination; improvement of gender equality in all fields covered by the treaty; better protection of maternity and social protection of mothers; better social, legal and economic protection of employed children; better protection of handicapped people.

Twenty countries have ratified the Charter, while another 20 have signed it but not yet ratified it. It was opened for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe on 3 May 1996, and came into force on 1 July 1999.

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