Malta’s 10-year strategy to combat poverty and social exclusion should be published by the end of January after its first draft was released today, Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said this morning.

The first 197-page draft was put together by Government’s poverty consultant, Yana Mintoff Bland, following a consultation process. Details were not released at this stage.

It will now be scrutinised by various stakeholders before the second draft is published mid-November and a third draft a month later.

After this process of extensive scrutiny, the final draft will discussed within the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development and the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee in the beginning of January. The strategy will then be launched towards the end of January.

She stressed that, even once published, the strategy will not be cast in stone. Its progress will be monitored and any changes necessary will be made.

The aim of the strategy is to reduce the rate of poverty in Malta in line with targets set in January 2011 by Malta to the European Commission. Then, Malta committed itself to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty - that stood at 88,000 people in 2011 – by 6,569.

Ms Coleiro Preca stressed that the Government would have addressed the issue despite the request of the Commission. She said that, apart from drafting the policy, Government was working on various other initiatives, some of which will be announced during the Budget.

Among these initiatives were reforms to the welfare system, setting up family resource centres, setting up the single means testing system and developing a strategy to strengthen human resources within the social sector.