Social voluntary organisations will be consulted in the drawing up of a new strategy to implement the EU’s 2020 socio-economic agenda, Social Policy Minister Dolores Cristina has promised.
She was reacting to concerns raised by social NGOs from different EU countries, including Malta, who claimed their governments were not consulting them in drawing up the so called national reform programme, which is a strategy to implement the social and economic goals the EU set for itself following the international financial crisis.
The EU 2020 strategy, launched by the European Commission earlier this year, provides a road-map for the next 10 years, which aims for greener growth and jobs in Europe and social targets including pulling 20 million people out of poverty.
“We are at the stage where we are looking at government service providers and the next step is to go to the NGO service providers... NGOs should be part and parcel of the consultation and I will see to it that they will be,” Ms Cristina said.
She said the national reform programme would also be discussed by the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development where civil society was also represented.
“Were it not for NGOs, the country would be much poorer than it is,” she said, inviting voluntary organisations to share their feedback without waiting for an “invitation from the ministry”.
Ms Cristina was in Brussels attending the Ninth Round Table on Poverty and Social Exclusion that ended yesterday.
EU countries will be presenting a draft of the reform programme to the European Commission next month and the final document should he launched in April.
On Monday, social NGOs from various EU countries said they were not being consulted as their governments prepared to draw up the national reform programmes. This concern was also expressed by Maltese social NGO representatives who insisted on the importance of improving the communication channels between the government and people experiencing poverty and social exclusion.
Moses Azzopardi, from the Anti-Poverty Forum and president of the Pensions’ Association, said poverty was increasing among vulnerable groups and pensioners were the worst off.
He said the association had suggested that, in the upcoming Budget, the government should provide a “basket” for pensioners that took into account the expenses incurred by the elderly to cover daily costs that included food, utility bills and medication.
Claudia Taylor-East, from the European Anti-Poverty Network, called on the business sector to exercise more corporate volunteering by offering expertise to NGOs to help them make their projects sustainable. Financial planning was an example of services that could be offered.
“Corporate social responsibility should feature higher on their agenda. Many businesses help through initiatives that support culture and the environment but few help social causes,” she said.
She added the business sector should also be flexible to meet the needs of NGOs rather than restrict the manner in which they helped.
Agreeing with this, Nora Macelli, chief executive of social NGO Jean Antide Foundation, gave the example of a business that would only help fund structural projects.
During the two-day round table meeting, stakeholders met to discuss the subject and came up with a range of recommendations that were presented to social policy ministers yesterday. Recommendations included adopting minimum income schemes, recognising that employment was a key instrument to fight poverty, listening to users and involving stakeholders, adopting a rights-based approach when dealing with poverty and monitoring and evaluating national progress.