In our last article on the rights of people with special needs, a few local considerations will be analysed. We have already dealt with conceptual aspects of disability in the light of a new rights-based perspective, with European jurisprudence dealing with disability and the broad concept of equality and non-discrimination and with the relationship between internal market regulation and rights of disabled persons. Today, an analysis of the protection afforded and efforts undertaken to safeguard the rights of people with special needs is pertinent.

To start off with, Malta joined various European states in declaring the year 2003 as the European Year of Persons with Disabilities. Last year Rita Borg, a Maltese citizen, was elected to the Board of the European Disability Forum. She was nominated by the European Alliance of Neuro-Muscular Disorders Associations of which Muscular Dystrophy (Malta) is an active member.

To this extent, 2003 crystallised some major achievements in the quest for equal rights and opportunities for persons with disabilities living in our country.

The National Commission Persons with Disability has published its 2003 report entitled Inkomplu Flimkien. The report's 15 chapters exemplify the commission's principal activities and tasks.

In its mission statement, the NCPD commits itself to make Maltese society more inclusive so that persons with disability enjoy a high quality of life through equal opportunities in all sections of society. To implement this commitment, the commission binds itself to ensure society eliminates all forms of direct or indirect discrimination against persons with disability or their families, while providing them with the necessary help and support.

The commission's functions and responsibilities are outlined in the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act of 2000. These include:

to identify the needs of persons with disability and their families; and to suggest how these needs can best be addressed by Maltese society;

to draw up policies for the disability sector, which will serve as guidelines for Government and the Maltese society;

to ensure co-ordination between government departments and agencies, and also to liaise between government entities and other non-governmental organisations working in this sector;

to ensure, within the provisions of the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disabilities) Act and within the bounds of reasonableness, that no discrimination takes place against persons with disabilities, and to take all necessary action to stop such acts of discrimination, if and when they happen;

to collect information and statistics on this sector, while ensuring strict confidentiality in respect of personal information;

to create a greater awareness in the Maltese society about disability issues;

to keep abreast with the latest developments in the field of disability, both locally and internationally; and

to provide a number of services for persons with disability and their families to ensure that these responsibilities can be properly fulfilled.

The Commission is entrusted with performing a range of services. These include:

the maintenance of a register of persons with disability sorted by locality, gender, age and different categories of disability;

the issue of a special identity card identifying the disabled person who in turn can thus apply for further services;

the provision for an Assistive Apparatus Service, which includes advice and financial help to persons with disability and their families, which in turn enable such persons to buy equipment that enables them to lead a more independent lifestyle;

the establishment of a Resource Centre with books, periodicals, journals, newspapers, videos, CDs and audio tapes about this sector. This centre is also open to the public;

the running of a Disability Issues Programme that consists of talks and courses, which focus on the social aspect of disability and on the way in which disabling barriers are constructed by society;

PEKTUR, a programme which provides limited financial support for projects on continuous education, training and research within the disability field, organises short training courses for disabled activists and parents of persons with mental disability and financially supports research undertaken with the commission; the Equal Opportunities Compliance Unit is entrusted with promoting equality of opportunity and implementing the provisions of the Equal Opportunities Act (Persons with Disability). The unit investigates allegations of discrimination on the grounds of disability and acts as an Ombudsman for disability matters; and

making recommendations to the competent authorities and departments for various benefits, including:

the vetting of applications for development to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority; the exemption from customs duty on cars to the Ministry of Finance; the exemption from payment of road licences to the Department of Licences; the Blue Sticker to the Commissioner of Police; work permits to the personal assistants to the Department of Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs; the reduction on tariffs of Websave from Datastream; and the reduction in Go Mobile tariffs.

Joseph Camilleri and Anne-Marie Callus, in their essay entitled 'Out of the Cellars: Disability, Politics and the Struggle for Change: the Maltese Experience' (in Barton L., 2001, Disability, Politics and the Struggle for Change, Chapter 7), analyse in detail the significant changes that took place in the Maltese sector from the late 1940s to the present and the main agents who acted as catalysts for certain much-awaited changes.

They classified the 1987 National Commission for the Handicapped as the "most momentous outcome of parent power and the growing disillusionment with the medical model of disability". One of its earliest initiatives was the establishment of the Child Development Advisory Unit whose task was to identify impairment, offer immediate support and give parents timely information in plain language and recommend future strategies for development. Today this unit has changed its name into the Child Development Assessment Unit.

Other major campaigns of the National Commission for the Handicapped (today the National Commission Persons with Disability) emphasise equal opportunities in civil society, accessible public transport, and inclusive education.

Camilleri and Callus explain that by 1990 there was a growing realisation that awareness campaigns and social pressure alone would not bring about the radical and lasting changes needed to ensure both an acceptable quality of life and the safeguarding of disabled persons' civil rights.

They add that various factors militate against disabled persons in their quest to protect their rights in Malta.

These include our bipartite political system, a palpable sense of vulnerability and our minute geographical size, not to mention serious constraints that stifle activism and lead to uninterrupted struggles geared towards their day-to-day living.

Despite the scheme for residential support, personal assistance schemes, realistic disability income and a relatively efficient and accessible transport system, Maltese disabled persons complain that they spend their time struggling to survive, which leaves them with no time to set up an effective movement.

Moreover, the long-term neglect of educational and employment provision has robbed disabled persons of potential thinkers and leaders.

Thus, though there is still a lot of room for improvement, Malta has matured sufficiently from the torture inflicted on the disabled Vella brother in police custody approximately two decades ago to the contemporary awareness and level of assistance afforded today to these people with special needs.