The post-pandemic strategy for Malta published this week provides 114 initiatives which, clustered under twelve different thematic areas, seek to provide answers to three important questions as we are looking towards the future.
The questions are:
1) How do we improve quality of life and wellbeing?
2) How do we sustain business and employment and drive a strong recovery?
3) How do we remain resilient and competitive?
The National post-pandemic strategy is in itself an ambitious blueprint to help the nation build back better in the wake of COVID-19.
The term post-pandemic is being used to refer to the period since early 2020 when the virus first entered our lives. While of course the crisis is not yet over, it is no longer at its height and now is the right moment to start planning for the future.
And the vision we have for our country is of a safe, healthy and prosperous nation, built on principles of equality, good governance and sustainable development, ready to harness the green and digital transitions to enhance the wellbeing of current and future generations.
As Prime Minister Robert Abela said in the introduction to the Post-Pandemic strategy launched this week, the past 15 months have been a period of great challenge but the coming together of all segments of Maltese society, in a display of heroic levels of perseverance and courage, and the success of our robust national vaccination programme, has led us to a place where we look forward with optimism towards a post-pandemic future.
“COVID-19 caused significant hardship and suffering, but it has provided an opportunity for our society to take stock of present realities, critically reflect on the risks and opportunities facing the country and plan for a better future,” he wrote.
I agree completely with this assessment. It is time, together, for us to build a new prosperity.
The government, in the past months, has indeed acted decisively to alleviate the hardships of the pandemic in order to save not only lives, through the brilliant work of our health carers, but also livelihoods by means of perfectly timed and designed schemes of financial assistance.
As a result of this excellent work, our economy is in the prime position for a strong post-pandemic recovery, aided by an impressive and efficient vaccination programme which is among the best in the world. This success, however, should not and must not mean that we should not look towards tomorrow. Rather, we should construct a vision about the future from this position of strength.
The COVID-19 pandemic will be one of the defining events in history. It has shaken our society and economy to the core and created immense hardships for many. Yet, it has also provided us with a unique opportunity to reflect, revaluate and refocus our direction to shape a stronger, healthier, happier and more resilient nation.
We need to be open and honest and learn from the lessons of recent months to think about how our world will change after COVID-19 entered our lives. We need to take the opportunity to reflect on both our strengths and weaknesses as a nation and consider how the recovery we will drive will be an equitable one which enhances the wellbeing of current and future generations.
Throughout the past months, there was one constant, heart-warming realisation: the comfort that we are truly all in this together. We have all gone through experiences which have touched us in the past months and there are a lot of stories of kindness, warmth, human bravery, personal hardships, support and community spirit. We need to build on this sense of national unity and cement this new spirit of cooperation.
The National Post-Pandemic Strategy that we have developed evaluates and acts on such changes and their effect on the human person, which is at the centre of everything that we will do. It also aims to shape a new approach to policy making that is more coherent and integrated, supported by: strong governance, coordination and implementation mechanisms; and underpinned by a strong evidence base and long- term planning, to create a whole-of-government approach centred on the needs and opportunities facing Malta’s citizens and businesses.
It seeks to drive collaboration between government, business and society on a common agenda which enhances the wellbeing of current and future generations.
As the strategy itself says: “The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to think about the kind of future we want. Our vision is of a safe, healthy and prosperous nation where citizens can live fulfilled lives, share in an equitable society, embrace the green and digital transitions, and secure well-paid jobs within a flourishing and stable economy. If our whole society works together, with the same courage, dynamism and determination seen during the crisis, we can make this vision a reality.”
Let us all give our utmost towards a better Malta.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank the National Post-Pandemic Strategy Steering Committee Chair Prof. Simone Borg and the members of the committee - Joyce Dimech, Mario Galea, Godwin Mifsud, James Pearsall, Prof. Gordon Sammut, Clive Tonna, Paul Zahra.