The approaching end of term of office saw outgoing Children's Commissioner Carmen Zammit scrambling to push pending issues to the forefront. Her successor, Helen D'Amato, takes over with just as much determination to ensure children's interests are given top priority.
Ms Zammit, a usually reserved person who prefers working behind the scenes, spent her last weeks in office bombarding column inch space to ensure children are not let down by the system.
Ms Zammit was the second woman to hold the post, taking over in 2007 from Sonia Camilleri who was more outspoken and had asked not to be re-appointed for a second term because she wanted to take a stand on shortcomings in the law that hindered her work.
The obstacles she faced were lack of human resources and a shoestring budget that stopped her from forging ahead with the office's projects, among others. Her objections helped pave a better path for Ms Zammit, even though the office thirsts for more resources: from child-friendly premises to the importance of managing its annual budget.
In her last report, Ms Zammit complained about obstacles to the office's independence, limiting her ability to act in the children's best interests. Among these was the fact that the commissioner did not get to administer its full budget and some salaries and day-to-day running expenses were still being paid for by the Family Ministry.
More importantly, however, what the office needs is the legal power to transform itself into the children's superhero. In its report on the Family Court, the Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee recommended that the commissioner should have the legal power to evaluate procedures and laws to safeguard children's interests who may be let down by all and sundry when their parents are separating.
Just before stepping down, Ms Zammit makes a series of recommendations, which, sadly, arise from concerns that have been ongoing since the inception of the Office of the Commissioner for Children in 2003.
Among this is the absence of a Children's Act, which Ms Zammit's predecessor had also harped upon. Before stepping down, Ms Camilleri had said that, despite Malta's promise to the UN in 2000 that a Children's Act was being drafted, there did not seem to be any preparations for its drafting or its presentation to Parliament.
The situation has barely shifted and the lacuna remains. In her report, Ms Zammit stresses that professionals and service users are finding it difficult to access relevant legislation. The piecemeal introduction of child legislation was leading to variations in interpretation and application of the law, which is not in the best interest of the child.
Another issue that has been pending for seven years is the government's failure to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which it ratified in 1990, into domestic legislation.
The list of pending concerns continues: exaggerated court delays that were having negative emotional and psychological effects on children; juvenile justice and the unacceptable use of Mount Carmel Hospital as an alternative to prison; and residential care, which was detrimental for children under five, among others. This is a legacy Ms D'Amato, a former Parliamentary Secretary for Community Care, will inherit.
The government may have the children's interests at heart but it needs to take on the recommendations former Children's Commissioners have made over the years and empower the office to be in a better position to champion children's rights. It's useless having a superhero without the power to come to a child's rescue.