No Maltese NGO qualifies to join European Disability Forum

There is no Maltese organisation that represents people with a disability within the European Disability Forum (EDF), the forum's president Yannis Vardakastanis said yesterday.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Mr Vardakastanis said that at the moment the EDF cannot accept any of the organisations in Malta since none fulfils the necessary legal and political criteria required, or echoes the motto "nothing about us without us".

He explained that the EDF is composed of organisations at European Union level and at national level, which are referred to as national councils.

In Malta, at present, no such organisation that represents disabled people has been accepted in the EDF. Such an organising must be open, transparent and accountable, and be an organisation of disabled people, for disabled people, by disabled people.

On a positive note, Mr Vardakastanis said the EDF was here to discuss and assist colleagues in Malta to find a solution and put in place a new structure that would meet EDF criteria and represent disabled people here.

Mr Vardakastanis was one of the speakers at the EU Information Seminar, held at the Radisson SAS, which focused on the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act and on EU policy on people with a disability.

Dr Tonio Azzopardi, legal consultant to the Malta Federation of Organisations Persons with Disability (the only national umbrella NGO that works for people with disabilities on a national level), spoke about the Equal Opportunities Act of 2000, and human rights issues related to people with disabilities.

Discrimination, he said, is still the worst enemy of people with disabilities. "The difference, however, is that persons with disabilities are no longer 'the invisible minority'.

"They are themselves actively involved in the global struggle to realise equality and dignity for all persons with disabilities worldwide. This struggle is based on the belief that fundamental rights are truly universal."

The law, Dr Azzopardi continued, is based on the premise that although persons with disabilities are entitled to equal protection under general human rights law, there are differences that must be taken into consideration so that persons with disabilities will be in a position to enjoy their rights.

What is required is a fair, firm and sensible implementation of these basic rights.

In her speech on the role of the EU in combating disability discrimination, Lisa Waddington, from the University of Maastricht, also spoke about the Equal Opportunities Act.

She said that an analysis of the Act revealed a number of minor areas in which the Maltese law might be insufficient, and fall below the standards required by EU law.

Specifically, the Act failed to prohibit harassment clearly and define harassment as a form of discrimination. The Act, she said, does not clearly define an instruction to discriminate as a form of discrimination, and does not sufficiently allow for the involvement of trade unions and non-governmental organisations in non-discrimination cases before the courts.

Dr Waddington also spoke on the Framework Employment Directive and Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty, which allowed the community to take action to combat discrimination on the grounds of sex, racial or ethical origin, religion or belief, disability, or sexual orientation.

Looking into the future, she said that the next step was to campaign for the adoption of a second directive that addressed disability discrimination in other areas, such as access to goods and services.

Founded in 1996, the EDF represents more than 37 million people with a disability in Europe. It aims to represent disabled people in dialogue with the EU and other European authorities.