Discrimination and equal opportunities was the theme of a European conference attended by Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina in Berlin earlier this week in conjunction with the first European Equal Opportunities Summit.

The events officially marked the start of the German EU Presidency and together with the European Commission, launched the “European Year of Equal Opportunities for All, 2007”. Federal German Minister Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities, Vladimír Spidla, formally opened the conference before an international audience of around 500 high-level participants.

Locally, the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All is being coordinated by the ministry. To this aim, a national implementing body (NIB) was set up in July 2006 under the chairmanship of Dr Philip Farrugia Randon. The vice-chairperson of the NIB accompanied Minister Cristina to Berlin, together with the chairman of the National Commission for Persons with Disability (KNPD), the Commissioner of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) and the ministry’s permanent secretary Joseph Ebejer.

Malta has recently witnessed a concrete

legislative strengthening in the equality field, from the entering into force of the Equal Opportunities Act (Persons with Disability) in 2000, the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, the setting up of NCPE in 2003, to the setting up of the Domestic Violence Commission in 2006 giving a voice to those seldom heard from.

It is, therefore, with much hope that Malta has embraced the EU’s theme for this year. The “European Year of Equal Opportunities for All 2007”, is intended to promote a new impulse in EU member States to allow people who until now have not had the chance to develop their potential and skills to do so now.

This is wholly in line with this government’s policy to ensure that the society we are building, the society we bequeath to future generations, will be one built on strength, on discussion, on understanding, where the role of every member of society will be rightfully recognised and validated.

In referring to the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All, Minister Cristina remarked that while 2007 has been earmarked, this is a commitment that Europe must embrace throughout the years and beyond this year. “The government of Malta is dedicated to ensuring that all people have access to the life chances that will enable them to fulfil their potential and Maltese society is accountable for securing a future of opportunity for all,” Minister Cristina stated.

“For both short and long-term social policy goals to be achieved, an open constructive dialogue is necessary. A strong developing economy requires social cohesion, and this implies empowerment: enabling individuals to actively participate in all spheres of life, and to be part of an inclusive society which promotes quality of life and well-being,” Minister Cristina

concluded.