On International Women's day some of us  pause and reflect on the situation of women in our society, regionally and globally. Progress has indeed been achieved, thanks to the hard work of women ourselves and the men who seriously believe that societies need the potential of all of us in order to thrive.  But this is not enough. It would be ideal to have all citizens on board in this endeavour.    

There are a plethora of issues which the government has addressed or is addressing, such as the maternity leave fund to end discrimation at the point of entry in employment; gender-balance in the judiciary has been reached but more needs to be done for this balance in other decision-making positions such as in parliamentary representation;  the preparatory work on starting to rectify the gender pay gap which has widened due to the exponiental increase of women in the labour market; the provision of free childcare services to all parents who are studying; achieving a better work-life balance;  ensuring that our benefits, pensions and taxation are fair to all.    The list goes on as does our committment to this area of policy.

Without a doubt, an important improvement   achieved here in Malta last year was the adoption of the Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act. This Act introduced standards that Maltese legislation sorely missed,  and brought us in line with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe.  This, while concurrently sustaining our efforts to entice and support more women into entering the labour market, achieving economic independence; one of the effects of this being that victims find it less difficult to terminate abusive relationships.

Amongst other things, the Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act implements government's vision of ensuring that violence is really tackled as society's concern rather than the victims' problem.

We introduced the concept of temporary protection orders for victims and ensured that the police can initiate investigations and prosecute aggressors ex-officio, irrespective of whether the victim submits a report. Additionally, should the victim at any stage of the proceedings decide against testifying or to drop the case, the police are vested with the power to continue to progress the case nonetheless.

Moreover, we provided training to more than 700 public officials on how to deal with gender-based violence effectively.

Given the   reality that one in three women are victims of gender-based violence, the adoption of the above-mentioned leglisation was a crucial step forward in our gender equality agenda. We now need to strengthen the structures that promote gender equality in our country and bolster our policy framework in this area.

It is because of this that my ministry is carefully listening to what gender equality NGOs and their representatives on the Women's Rights Consultative Council have to say. Government is embracing their work as we plan to adopt our first Gender Equality Mainstreaming Strategy and Action Plan.

It is also because of this that earlier this year, my ministry set up a Gender Equality Mainstreaming Unit within the Human Rights and Integration Directorate. We will mainstream gender across all of government and in society at large, and I   believe that this setup can set the benchmark.

To get there, however, we need to adopt bold measures that empower women and create a level playing field in which gender equality can take root and flourish. We also need to involve more men in our gender equality conversations, as they too have to contribute their fair share. Ours needs to be a societal process.

To this end, I am launching a public consultation on gender equality mainstreaming both in terms of policy and legislation.   

This will be a time to reflect further on the gender equality situations in families, workplaces and other networks as we aim to make them better for all persons - particularly women - where a gender deficit exists.

In order for it to be successful, this exercise must be societal and not merely governmental.

Government's   practical contribution in this regard is next week's signing and ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. This will guarantee that the Convention offers Maltese women and their representatives a proper channel to address women's rights. Later this year, we will adopt the Strategy, taking into account the input received from all interested parties who will contribute to the process.

Happy Women's Day.