This is the season when we exchange wishes for a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year with family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, and the wider community. Yet for persons with disabilities in Malta and Gozo, good wishes alone do not translate into a better quality of life.
Throughout the past year, persons with disabilities, their families, NGOs, and academics have repeatedly raised their voices through the media and public discourse. They have clearly identified the systemic barriers, failures, and injustices that continue to deny persons with disabilities the right to live independently and with dignity in the community. These concerns can no longer be ignored.
Responsibility does not lie with one Ministry alone. Almost every Ministry is directly accountable for policies, services, or decisions that continue to limit the lives of persons with disabilities. Each Ministry must take ownership of its responsibilities and acknowledge how its actions - or lack of action - are contributing to exclusion, inequality, and hardship.
Persons with disabilities are not a homogeneous group. Different disabilities require different solutions. This makes it essential for all authorities to genuinely respect and implement the principle of "Nothing About Us Without Us." Decisions affecting persons with disabilities must never be taken without their direct involvement. Persons with disabilities, through their representative NGOs, must be equal partners in all discussions, reforms, and decision-making processes. Anything less is a failure of inclusion. At present, this principle remains largely unfulfilled.
MFOPD calls on those in positions of authority to move beyond symbolic gestures and rhetoric. The spirit of Christmas must be reflected in concrete action, guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). Persons with disabilities must no longer be treated as an afterthought, but as central stakeholders in shaping policies that affect Maltese society.
Real improvement in the quality of life of Maltese citizens will only be achieved when persons with disabilities are placed at the centre of all policy discussions and implementation processes. This is not optional - it is a legal, moral, and human rights obligation.
MFOPD expects that 2026 will mark a decisive shift. Policies and initiatives across all Ministries that affect citizens' lives must be developed through meaningful, structured, and ongoing dialogue with persons with disabilities and their NGOs. Consultation must be genuine, not tokenistic.
The Christmas message must be one of accountability and commitment to change. Attitudes must change - particularly among those who have the power to remove barriers and deliver equality.
Finally, MFOPD reminds Malta of its commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. The promise to leave no one behind must be honoured in practice, not just in words.
Happy Christmas and a determined call for a just, inclusive, and rights-based New Year.