Malta will ratify a protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in the coming days, granting additional rights to women who have suffered discrimination. 

Though Malta ratified the UN convention in 1991, it had yet to do so with an optional protocol allowing women who have been discriminated against and who have exhausted all local remedies to take their case before a CEDAW investigative board.

Announcing the ratification on Wednesday, Equality Minister Helena Dalli said the board's conclusions, while not legally binding, had political weight that was difficult for any country to ignore.

This, Dr Dalli said, meant the country would be increasing scrutiny on itself on issues of equality and discrimination against women.

Dr Dalli was addressing a conference organised by the Commission for the Promotion of Equality to mark International Women's Day on March 8.

Highlighting the importance of work and career opportunities to ensure gender equality, the minister said more women had entered the workforce in recent years, but that there remained a need for greater transparency on wages to ensure equal pay for equal work.