A plan to reform laws governing voluntary organisations will be presented for public consultation next month, the prime minister said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Robert Abela met with his cabinet of ministers at Dar tal-Providenza in Siġġiewi to discuss the plan and hear first-hand accounts of the challenges non-profits and voluntary organisations face.

NGOs that work in the environmental, sports, cultural and youth sectors were among those that met with Malta’s cabinet.

“We wanted to hear from those directly involved in the sector before discussing the plan in cabinet,” Abela told those who attended.

Abela said the government wants to slash red tape and simplify bureaucratic processes for voluntary organisations.

He described voluntary organisations as “strategic partners in the country’s socio-economic development” and said the reform plan would positively impact thousands of people who use such organisations or their services.

Abela also used the occasion to announce that the government will soon be opening a fourth support centre for voluntary organisations in Gozo. Such organisations can make use of such centres to host meetings or activities. There are currently three such centres – one in Birkirkara, one in Rabat and a third in Valletta.

Abela meets a resident at the Siġġiewi home. Photo: DOI

Earlier on Tuesday and before the cabinet meeting, Abela toured Dar tal-Providenza and met various residents at the home. Inclusion Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli accompanied him.

The home’s director, Fr Martin Micallef, showed the prime minister around the home for people with a disability including a music room used for music therapy, an area where residents are preparing for carnival celebrations and an agricultural centre where residents grow their own crops to sell.

Abela was also shown an exhibition by Dun Mikiel Azzopardi, the home’s founder, as well as ongoing works on an apartment that will be used to house additional residents.