Lawyer and disability researcher Angelo Marra. Photo: Jason Borg

Mediterranean countries should come together to research disability studies since disabled people living in the area are likely to face similar challenges, according to Italian researcher Angelo Marra.

“It is time to build up a Mediterranean-centred disability research prospective... The idea would be to research disability issues and organise conferences.

“The Italian and Maltese community, as well as Greek and Spanish and other Mediterranean countries, share the same cultural basis.

“Disabled people are likely to face the same embedded prejudices and challenges so we should bring our efforts together,” said Dr Marra, who is a lawyer and disability researcher.

To illustrate his point he spoke about the Mediterranean family culture whereby relatives take it upon themselves, and are expected, to be responsible for a disabled person all their life.

Dr Marra was in Malta over the past week on the invitation of the University of Malta’s Disability Studies Unit, within the Faculty for Social Wellbeing.

Disability rights are not favours – but they are about having the same opportunity to enjoy ordinary life

He delivered a public lecture on EU anti-discrimination legislation mostly focusing on the UK, Italy and Malta. He also delivered a series of lectures to students reading for their MA in Disability Studies.

The government is in the process of amending the Equal Opportunities Act, enacted 14 years ago, to make it more relevant to modern realities. The consultation process closed at the end of November.

As part of the celebrations to mark World Disability Day this week, the new national policy on the rights of persons with disability was launched. It calls for better legislation, better integration in the workforce and greater participation in the public administration, among other things.

Dr Marra, who is a wheelchair user, spoke about the need to improve inclusion of disable people within the European context to grant more accessible transport, accommodation and possibilities to work all around Europe.

It was also time to look into having a general framework under which disabled people, who benefited from support services in their countries, could access the same support in other European countries. This would help remove boundaries.

Projects carried out under European Structural Funds could also be used to foster disability rights, he said.

“Unfortunately, disability is still invisible within European projects,” he said adding that, by not providing for accessible venues and housing these projects automatically excluded disabled applicants.

He said the public also should be educated about the rights of the disabled.

“Disability is a human rights’ issue and disabled people are part of the mainstream society. Disability rights are not favours – but they are about having the same opportunity to enjoy ordinary life,” he said.