The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and Caritas Malta’s ‘Tal-Ibwar’ Adolescent Therapeutic Centre project have been nominated for the European Citizen’s Prize.
The foundation was nominated for the prize by Nationalist MEP David Casa, the Caritas project by Labour MEPs.
Casa hailed it for the foundation’s work promoting the rule of law, fighting for justice, and striving toward ending impunity.
“The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation has been on the frontline against state corruption. Its work in securing access to information and realising fundamental rights through advocacy for better governance has been unparalleled and necessary.
“It has been a trailblazer for civil society capacity-building during a period in our history when civil society played a vital role,” Casa said.
He added that the foundation was nominated for promoting the core rights enshrined in the Charter on Fundamental Freedoms through awareness-raising, capacity-building, and litigation aimed at instituting change.
Casa explained that the foundation had mobilised lawyers, activists and journalists to directly challenge the Maltese government where it exceeded its powers, and works to restore the rule of law through all the mechanisms and tools available.
In September, the Foundation announced the Public Interest Litigation Network (PILN), Malta’s first-ever access to justice initiative, composed of lawyers and law firms offering legal representation to victims of discrimination, human rights violations, abuse of power and state collusion in criminal activity.
It had also set up the Malta Investigative Journalism Centre, a collaborative platform, to train and equip independent journalists with the tools to investigate public interest stories.
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation was founded by the family of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia to ensure effective justice for her murder, safeguard her work, and strengthen civil society and the media.
MEPs Alfred Sant, Alex Agius Saliba, Josianne Cutajar and Cyrus Engerer nominated the therapeutic centre project as representative of efforts in support of adolescents experiencing hardship.
In 2017, Caritas entered into a public social partnership agreement to develop a specialised programme and oversee the building of the centre. Officially opened in 2021, the centre offers a highly specialised day and residential programme for adolescents whose substance misuse is causing an adverse impact on their lives.
The centre has a residential capacity for 14 adolescents whilst also offering day programmes for non-residents.
Caritas’ mission is to work towards the eradication of poverty and promote social justice and human development.
It has been offering a range of services to the most vulnerable people in our society such as offering shelter and food for homeless people and counselling services for people struggling with alcohol and gambling addictions.
In emergency situations, it mobilises resources to assist vulnerable people as observed during the pandemic whereby it coordinated the distribution of 800 daily meals. Amid the war in Ukraine, Caritas organised a national appeal for funds to support both the relief projects in Ukraine and the refugees in the neighbouring countries.