The Parliamentary Secretary for Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Ageing Justyne Caruana today addressed Africa-EU Relations Seminar. The Parliamentary Secretary spoke on Democracy, Governance and Human Rights, which, she said “fit perfectly with the responsibilities handed over to her these last weeks by the Governement when she was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary.”

The Parliamentary Secretary said that a great deal of work has been done in terms of legislation, policies and change of attitudes, however persons with disability and older persons are still a long way from experiencing equality to the full and some or many still struggle to find their rightful place in their communities.

She stated that it is the politicians’ and policy makers’ job to find solutions and respond to a an ever increasing complex society. “Democracy, Governance and Human Rights do not just happen but what we need is a commitment that is founded on the principles of equality, social justice and of mutual respect.”

“We need to keep revisiting these principles, educating children and adults in citizenship, enticing the community to make the changes that are so crucial for the social well-being of our society.” Justyne Caruana said.

The Parliamentary Secretary described Governance as “fundamentally entailing inter-dependence.” She added that changing the boundaries of the State “might entail that public, private and voluntary functions and positioning became momentarily fluid and at times possibly opaque until we get used to a new way of doing things.”

When speaking about Democracy, Dr Caruana said that is the increased participation of the members of the community where “everyone becomes a protagonist and an actor in public and administrative policy-making and implementation.”

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