Over 200 participants from the government and voluntary sectors attended a one-day national conference entitled “Enhancing Social Inclusion – Moving Forward Together”.
The main aim of the conference, organised by the Policy Development and Programme Implementation Directorate within the Family and Social Solidarity Ministry, was to emphasise the need of networking and to debate and discuss on overarching policies, leading to a national policy which sees the input of all relevant stakeholders in the field.
When addressing the participants, Minister Dolores Cristina remarked on the overwhelming turnout and said that this was crucial for the success of the strategy developed through the previous year’s consultation exercise. “Last year’s challenge was to come up with the strategy, and we met that challenge head on. Today’s challenge is possibly greater still, that of implementing this strategy and succeeding, once again, together,” Minister Cristina continued.
“Let me reiterate that which I firmly believe in. For our national strategy to function well, all stakeholders must work hand in hand, and this means ministries, departments but also social partners, from unions to voluntary organisations. Above all, we must never forget to involve our beneficiaries. They are, after all, the most important players in this. It is only in this way,” Minister Cristina concluded, “that we can truly speak of solidarity.”
Dr Marisa Scerri opened the plenary session by giving an overview of Malta’s National Report on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion (2006-2008). Dr Scerri focused upon the National Action Plan on Social Inclusion that aims to promote social inclusion and reduce the risk of poverty through four over-arching policy priorities namely, empowering social cohesion, building stronger communities, strengthening the voluntary sector and networking the social welfare sector.
The special guest speaker at the conference was Chris Burston, the team leader of the Family Poverty and Financial Exclusion Division within the United Kingdom’s Department for Work and Pensions. Mr Burston spoke about the Get Heard! process that deals with grassroot engagement in the UK’s National Action Plan. This process included national and local workshops throughout the UK. A national seminar concluding the process was held in London. Two main outcomes emerged from this process:
1. challenges which the social inclusion strategy needed to tackle were identified; and
2. people experiencing poverty spoke about what was really working.
Mary Grace Vella, Katya Unah and Therese Micallef from the ministry’s Policy Development and Programme Implementation Directorate presented preliminary research findings related to Giving Service Users a Voice. This research exercise highlights the way service users feel that a particular service helped them. Children and adults from five different target populations identified in the NAP 2006-2008 were included in this research exercise. Respondents stated that they generally feel that the service they make use of has helped them on different levels, such as socialisation and personal growth and development.