Children and youths are often considered to be the future of our societies. However, true as that may be, they are also very much the present as well. In fact, the government has not only taken care to forge a brighter future for the younger generations but also took immediate measures to ensure that, from an early stage, children and young people are offered the best opportunities to realise their full potential.
At the same time, the government further ensured that social rights should be enjoyed by all, irrespective of social background or disability. To this end, non-discriminatory access to these rights was, from the outset, a guiding principle for our policies.
We strongly believe that children and young people bring about new energy because they dream big. They manage to formulate ideas which they drive hard to deliver and, in so doing, benefit themselves and the whole of society.
A landmark development was the Protection of Minors Act, designed to give security to children in vulnerable situations and who need immediate assurances, especially when the prospect of growing up in a healthy environment eludes them.
The National Adoption Strategy further complements the law as it strengthens the structures that ensure the rights of children, to a family.
The government also granted €10,000 to those couples who succeed in foreign adoptions and a grant of €1,000 to local adopters. All couples have a right to enjoy parenthood and financial resources should never be the barrier to this right.
The government’s overall policy offers youths a wide spectrum of opportunities in practically all spheres of life in order to meet their needs and fulfil their aspirations. At age 16, a young person can vote and even become a mayor in Malta. Our youths have indeed found the right environment, in which they have become leading movers behind change. However, the real power our youths have is the opportunity for education and employment. There are two social rights that are pivotal for young people. Young people are well aware that our economy is offering substantial high-end jobs and they are ready to grab them.
The rate of young people going for tertiary education has grown exponentially. The large number of courses offered are unprecedented, strengthened with incentives, both financial and otherwise, available to each student. In addition, these opportunities have also been further adjusted to accommodate those young people who could not necessarily fit the mainstream programmes and systems.
A landmark development was the Protection of Minors Act- Michael Falzon
What better policy responses could there be for social cohesion than that to provide all young people, irrespective of background or disability, with access to the right for education and employment?
The increases in stipends, free public transport and the get qualified scheme further seek to add momentum for the young to push harder and reach higher goals. In fact, record numbers of persons with disabilities moved into the labour market while others who never dreamt to pursuing higher education were rewarded with a tertiary level qualification.
Moreover, those who need even further support can benefit from the youth guarantee and are also assisted to either continue with their education or to move into training or productive employment. These measures brought down the rate of early school-leavers while Appoġġ agency complements the educational programmes with its own tailor-made services to specific groups of young people.
The social right to housing is also another critical area for the well-being of young people and the government has been very creative in developing schemes to get young people on the property owners list.
The scheme for first-time buyers made dreams come true for many young couples and the government is active more than ever before in designing schemes that are needs led rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.
All these measures have not only crystalised our vision of having a just and equitable society but they have also strongly assisted in social mobility, where one’s social background does not define one’s position in society.
Our commitment to this social model based on social rights and the non-discriminatory access to these rights is the driving force of this government for an active, just and cohesive society.
Michael Falzon, Minister for Social Policy and Children’s Rights