I have been following the disability sector closely for years on end now. 

Apart from my academic interest, over these last 30 years  I have done it all; from Care Work to driving persons with disability around with the van, from preparing meals to helping in activities of daily living, from accompanying families through my role as social worker to working with siblings in my community development position.  I have done researcher, managed services, provided consultation, contributed in various voluntary and NGO roles and the list can go on.  I have also been deeply inspired by my own extended family members who have a disability and the way their family have managed this experience was another reason why I am so passionate about this sector. 

This is a sector that has gone forward in leaps and bounds.  We’ve come a full-circle, from a culture of exclusion to one of charity but we have moved on from there.  We now not only speak about providing services and the occasional piece of legislation but we are talking human and civil rights.  What excites me in the current policy applied by this Government for this sector is that the focus lies on creating strong legislative pillars so that it won’t be just cheap talk when we get people mentioning emancipation, rights and control over one’s choices but we are providing the necessary safeguards by no other than strong and succinct regulation – it’s called walking the talk! 

I believe that having new people involved in the National Commission Persons with Disability, a structure that had gone lame in terms of trend and standards-setting, is a big plus.  However, undoubtedly the biggest transformation this Government has been involved in is that we have a Parliamentary Secretary led by Dr Justyne Caruana that is focused on disability issues.  I had spoken about this concept with Dr Lawrence Gonzi years back when he was still Secretary General of the Nationalist Party and whilst he saw the benefits he believed, at the time, that mainstreaming disability was of the essence.  Fair enough, but we know that disability is far from a resolved issue and we had to jump-start a number of issues to get this part of the population on the same level playing field with the rest of the community.  Disability needs attention, focus and dedicated resources so that persons with disability and their families can really have a good quality of life. 

So the fact that this Parliamentary Secretary functions so well is a feather in the cap of this Government.  The over-arching role that this Secretariat has is reaping dividends because what is important at this stage is not only engaging disability in the social solidarity realm but also working closely on legislation with other Ministries, namely, social enterprise to broaden the employment horizons, trusts and foundations that will give more options for people to be protected in the, community amongst other.  

An important function remains that of the involvement of the disabled community. 

Persons with disability need to be consulted and the public debate is evident of this.  I have not seen this dynamic approach and so much debate and engagement for years on end probably since the late 80’s when the KNPD had just been set-up.   We can see on-going consultation with the Deaf community, with families and individuals affected by autism and with people with intellectual disability.  Finally, we are starting to see governance in this sector that buds from the roots because Government is about responding to needs and not deciding on its own. 

Whether it is about having a number of services localised close to each other to ensure easy access for persons with disability and their families, whether it’s reviewing the Equal Opportunities Act (Persons with Disability) to strengthen its function, whether it’s establishing standards in residential care, whether it’s providing for an array of residential homes with different characteristics that will ensure we are providing a variety of services where persons with disability can than decide what best suits their needs.  This is the just society we want to see.  This is the community of engagement and participation we need to promote.  Hon Dr Justyne Caruana in her role as Parliamentary Secretary has repeatedly said that the next step in this sector is not only to provide ‘top-down’ but to look at what is required by the grassroots and accommodate these requests because disability remains a very complex agenda. 

The inauguration of the residential home in Siggiewi is another loop in this chain of services but also in aiming high in terms of standards and reaching out to people.  I just hope that we are all together and on the same track when it comes to this matter.  Useless altercations that are founded on unsatisfied egos is wrong.  We, all of us, have no right to play around with people’s lives.  We cannot just sit in the shadows and throw daggers simply to spite.  If people are not happy to ride the ferry they can jump ship – far better than creating pointless obstacles – we are talking people’s lives here.  We are in the same boat, people with disability, their parents, siblings and families, academics, researchers, policy makers, volunteers, service providers and all those with good intentions, there is place for everyone.  We don’t need to agree but we definitely need a common front.

It is an exciting time in this sector.  Let’s enjoy the moment, let’s work hard, let’s be guided by the principle of inclusion stated and embedded In the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability that soon enough will be entrenched in our law.  Indeed, great times ahead.!