The Malta Federation of Organisations Persons with Disability (MFOPD) is expecting for persons with disabilities, their parents, and their representative organisations to be consulted in all issues concerning them and for this to become a standard practice across government, rather than an exception.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the MFOPD questioned why a meaningful consultation with parents, persons with disabilities, and their representative organisations only occurred after issues reached the Office of the Ombudsman.

The MFOPD welcomed the findings identified by the Commissioner for Education following investigations relating to the Wardija Resource Centre and students following the Core Curriculum programme.

However, while praising these findings and subsequent recommendations by the Ministry for Education, the MFOPD said it cannot ignore "a fundamental question" raised by these cases: "Why did these issues have to reach the Office of the Ombudsman before the authorities took the necessary steps to ensure meaningful consultation with parents, persons with disabilities and their representative organisations?"

The MFOPD noted that, despite having existing bodies and strategies for government to look to, this situation saw concerns affecting students with disabilities and their families to develop to a point where "the Office of the Ombudsman had to take the bull by the horns and investigate what should have been addressed through proper consultation and engagement from the outset."

The MFOPD mentioned how it recently commissioned the research "Nothing About Us Without Us" and that this research highlighted "the serious deficiencies in consultation and participation experienced by persons with disabilities and their organisations." Citing this research, it referenced it as an opportunity for national authorities to work with the MFOPD and its member organisations to creating "a meaningful and structured mechanism for consultation."

"'Nothing About Us Without Us' cannot remain a slogan, a research title or a policy aspiration. It must become the way government works," the MFOPD said.

The MFOPD stated that the concerns surrounding this case are not new - parents of students with disabilities, persons with disabilities, and their organisations have been repeatedly calling for decisions concerning them to be taken with them, and not simply on their behalf, without prior consultation.

The federation noted that the admissions process for the Wardija Resource Centre "did not initially provide for direct parental involvement, published admission criteria or an appeals mechanism." It added that this example shows exactly why consultation, transparency, and participation "cannot be treated as optional."

It expects this principle to be extended to all matters concerning this community, i.e., not just issues relating to them within the education sector.

"We should not have to keep proving that we are available to participate. We should not have to wait for another crisis. And we should not have to go through the Ombudsman every time authorities fail to consult," the MFOPD said.

The federation remarked that it is ready to sit around the table with authorities, the CRPD, and all relevant stakeholders to "establish a meaningful, structured and sustainable mechanism for consultation." However, the MFOPD noted that it is expecting to be invited around the discussion table "before the next problem reaches the Ombudsman."

The MFOPD stated that structures mustn't simply exist, they must be allowed to deliver. With Malta having its own National Disability Strategy, the Directorate for Disability Issues, an Engagement Board, the CRPD, and representative organisations like the MFOPD and its member organisations, it believes that Malta does not suffer from a lack of structures or strategies on paper, but questioned whether these structures are being used effectively.

Stakeholders are seldom brought together for discussion before decisions are taken, "particularly when those decisions directly affect their lives," it stated.

The national umbrella organisation for the disability sector said that meaningful consultation is not a favour granted by government, but "an essential part of good governance and an essential component of the rights-based policy approach to disability."

"The existence of structures is meaningless if the people they are intended to represent are not genuinely heard," the MFOPD wrote.

This statement was signed by MFOPD President Marthese Mugliette.

The MFOPD represents 45 NGOs working across the disability sector and acts as the voice of the approximately 35,000 people in the Maltese islands living with at least one disability. As the national umbrella organisation, MFOPD advocates for equal rights, accessibility, and full participation in society for all persons with disabilities in Malta and Gozo.