Children's commissioner outlines plans

The newly appointed Commissioner for Children, Sonia Camilleri, discussed the priorities before the council which she heads when she met the House Social Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

Committee chairman Helen D'Amato, herself a member of the council, said in welcoming Mrs Camilleri that she believed there were several areas where the commissioner could work, including fostering and adoption procedures, child exploitation, and parent support.

The root causes of problems facing children had to be found as every effort was made for the rights of children to be assured.

Mrs Camilleri said she planned to spend the first few months of her appointment listening to what organisations and individuals had to say. This was what she had been doing in the two weeks since her appointment, as she did not want her personal experience to influence work that would affect the nation.

She said she was receiving a lot of suggestions on which problems to tackle, but she felt she should not just be the commissioner of those children having serious needs. She was also the commissioner of other children, including those who did not really have problems. She was the commissioner of children who already had a social conscience and children who were creative, for example. And she wanted to give more prominence to the hidden charms of Maltese children.

Mrs Camilleri said she did not want to hurry in what she did so that things were done well. She would be establishing priorities and work on two or three issues this year. Although it would be difficult to prioritise, she had to start from somewhere.

Mrs Camilleri said that following this meeting period she planned to go on school visits to listen to what the children had to say.

She aimed to use research to be able to suggest policies for implementation by the government.

Parliamentary Secretary in the Social Affairs Ministry Dolores Cristina suggested that the council look at mainstreaming children's issues to see what impact any issue, such as the environment and the economy, would have on children.

Mrs Cristina asked Mrs Camilleri not to be overwhelmed with many issues and to keep in mind that although one wished to do a lot, resources were limited.

Her message to society, she said, was that children were there to be listened to.

Mrs Cristina said that parents should also be made aware that they should be their children's voice. Childhood and all that was positive in children had to be promoted, she stressed.

Parliamentary Secretary in the Social Policy Ministry Francis Agius said that the cause of many children's problems was a lack of entertainment.

Problems such as absenteeism, he said, should be tackled not in the short but in the long term. The council could be assisted in its work by doctors and social workers, for example, who faced such problems daily in their work and could also propose solutions.

It was very important that children started to form a bigger part of society. There should also be closer interaction between children and the elderly.

Labour MP Marie Louise Coleiro said that the law on children presented a tall order. There were certain aspects which had to be implemented with children, and other work that had to be done with adults.

It would be important to look at international treaties to learn from other experiences. The voluntary sector in Malta also had a long history and track record of experience which could be utilised.

Work had to be divided into medium and long term. Certain issues, such as illiteracy and absenteeism, were a medium- to long-term issue.

There were then issues that required immediate attention. Existing state and NGO structures had to be restructured to become more child-friendly, for example. The council should also have its own focal persons in departments, such as the attorney general's office, to inspect legislation and ensure that this was child-friendly before it was presented.

Ms Coleiro said that while the commissioner's office should receive children's complaints, it should not develop into just another complaints office. It was also very important that it was child-friendly.

Replying to questions by Labour MP Joe Abela, Mrs Camilleri said that for its first year, the council had a limited budget of Lm10,000. It would only be employing one secretary besides utilising certain voluntary services. This budget, would, however, be growing eventually.

Mrs D'Amato augured that the council would include children.

The other members of the council appointed so far are Leonard Callus, representing the Social Policy Ministry; Michelin Sciberras, representing the Education Ministry; Louise Calleja, representing the Home Affairs Ministry; Anne Felice, representing the Justice Ministry; and Richard Zammit, representing the Health Ministry.