Talks to revamp the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality are expected to start next month, this newspaper has learnt.

Sources close to the Equality Ministry said the National Women’s Rights Council, established earlier this month, will be discussing the revamp of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality.

The revamp will follow a new equality law expected to start being debated in Parliament in the beginning of the New Year, the sources added.

The remit of the commission will remain relatively in line with the present NCPE. working on advocacy campaigns and continuing to receive and address complaints on workplace harassment.

The organisation will work on advocacy campaigns

However, the revamped commission will be enshrined in the equality law, increasing both its legal capability to influence laws and its financial resources, the sources added.

READ: ID cards and passports get a gender-neutral option

Equality Minister Helena Dalli referred to the revamp this month, when announcing that the new equality commissioner will need to have the backing of at least two-thirds of the House of Representatives.

It will be the first government body with a chairperson elected with such a strong majority, she noted.

The Council for Women’s Rights was recently launched.

Twenty-three NGOs were encompassed in the council, which Dr Dalli said would seek to “strengthen the dialogue between civil society and the government”.

The council was established to act as a consultative body on policy ideas.

The Domestic Violence Act was amended earlier this year to bring it in line with the Istanbul Convention, which was ratified last May.

The Council of Europe’s convention clamps down on domestic violence by criminalising stalking, forced marriage and non-consensual sex, among others.

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