Be the first to comment!2014 Annual Report & draft amendments on the Equal Opportunities Act
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Parliamentary Secretary for the Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Ageing Justyne Caruana today visited the offices of the National Persons with Disability Commission, where she was presented with a report on the Equal Opportunities Act
During the same visit, the National Commission for Persons with Disability presented draft amendments for the Equal Opportunities act after KNPD embarked on a process of consultation about the same bill back in October.
The Commission said that it felt the need to revise and strengthen this law into a way which would be relevant for the present time. The consultation was conducted with various stakeholders among which include the Malta Employers Association, unions, the Maltese Chamber of architects, persons with disability and parents among others.
Dr Justyne Caruana, said that she welcomed this draft with great satisfaction, since it was conducted over a wide area of consultation, and said that she will be putting it forward for discussion and approval.
Dr Caruana also congratulated KNPD’s hard work as a regulator in the disability sector, saying that as a result of their efforts, there is more conscience and knowledge about the rights of persons with disability.
Parliamentary Secretary Caruana reiterated that “the Government is very fond of the disability agenda and in fact the Government is working on various laws in favour of the disability sector.!
“The laws concerning this area were put forward, including a law so that persons with disability will be represented on multiple Government entity boards, a draft in order to recognise the Maltese sign language as an official language and also the budget allocated for the disability sector, particularly about employment.”
All of this falls within the context of the National Policy for persons with disability and the strategy for the implementation of the same policy.
Dr Caruana recalled that this same week the first reading of a draft law to address a deficiency in the guardianship legislation was put forward. She also mentioned the project Socjetà Gusta to alleviate concerns of parents of persons with disability.
