Gozitan NGOs have called for a 'visionary' strategy to help the island recover in the months after the COVID-19 outbreak. 

In a statement on Saturday, the Gozo NGOs Association welcomed a recent decision by the Gozo Regional Committee (GRC) to set up a task force with a specific remit to draw up a holistic post-COVID Strategy for Gozo.

"In drawing the said strategy, the task force would need to take all the necessary steps to ensure, that besides being holistic strategy, it would need to be as visionary as possible and besides would be a strategy that would be able to merge and synergise the aspirations of the whole Gozitan society, so making the island regions of Gozo better equipped to meet the new challenges of the new COVID-19 reality," the association said. 

NGOs called for the task force to begin operations as soon as possible and to be given enough time in drawing up the strategy for a wide-ranging consultation with the active participation of all stakeholders. 

Calling for a "shared and widely-owned visionary strategy", it said it would be carrying out its own consultation process for its members - NGOs and voluntary organisations - to present their views on the development of the voluntary sector in Gozo. 

It added that the sector had a major role to play in the economic, cultural and social development of the island region.