Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1350550
WE have just celebrated Women's Day, an annual occasion which is a special feature on the calendar and during which people from all walks of life, local and internation- al institutions and organisations everywhere, from the European Parliament to political parties and NGOs, seek to deliver the impor- tant message of women's rights. It is also the opportunity for women of every political creed and social status to come out into the streets to celebrate, in this year's and last year's case sadly nullified by Cov- id-19 exigences and strict pro- tocols, what achievements have been made and, more important, what's left to be done. Still much. It was certainly good last Mon- day, on the very day of Interna- tional Women's Day 2021, to fol- low David Sassoli, the President of the European Parliament, in his opening speech to the EU's highest institution marking the occasion with a focus on women's empowerment and leadership during the current Covid-19 pan- demic. Sassoli rightly insisted that the pandemic risks "wiping out decades of achievements gained by European women's struggle for the right to work, to share care work, for autonomy, for respect and for the right to make their own choices." No light statement, that. President Sassoli, a former sea- soned journalist, also spoke about the gender pay gap, saying it is not acceptable that women in Europe earn on average 14.1% less than men. He rightly highlighted the European Commission's propos- al for binding pay transparency measures, appealing to all mem- ber states to ratify the Istanbul Convention and for the EU to make violence against women a Europe-wide crime. Needless to say, his strong com- ments – and many other simi- lar-sounding declarations echoing across the continent and the rest of the world – must have been paid a substantial portion of lip service, but it is action that finally has to make the difference. There are just too many discrepances and too many loop holes in the socio-legal fabric that prohibit women from achieving real equal- ity. That the pandemic has further exposed this sad situation is a fact, all the more need for action at na- tional, regional and international levels. We are fortunate in Malta to have witnessed a reawakening as far as women's rights are con- cerned, particularly since 2013 when a new administration with a true social conscience was elected in. The first successful move was to have more women going out to work, giving them new oppor- tunities and, in so doing, tackling old social problems such as those confronting single mothers, while at the same time free childcare services and facilities were being introduced. The latest data, pub- lished in 2020 for reference year 2018, ranks Malta 15th amongst the EU countries, confirming the need for bigger efforts nationwide. An empowerment process was also started as more and more women were being appointed to high posts within public entities, boards, commissions and com- mittees. The process has been more or less reflected on appoint- ments within the private sector, but the recent revelation that on- ly one board of 63 publicly listed companies in Malta is chaired by a woman and that only 11 per cent of directors are female, with half of the companies made up of men only, shows that we are still far away from the ideal gender bal- ance at both these complementa- ry spheres of empowerment. But as we discuss and analyse these developments, we cannot help think of those women who, besides sharing in the burden of most women in the world, have the added weight of disability to carry on their shoulders. While, again, one is happy to note that disabled Maltese women, as dis- abled Maltese men and children, have won rights and been accord- ed services and facilities that help make their lives easier, we should not consider this a mission ac- complished. Helping disabled women achieve their ambitions and spe- cial responsibilities in society is a work in progress, not an off-the- cuff achievement to be seasonally brought up for celebration. I feel proud to belong to an administra- tion that sees this whole process as such and preferring not to rest on its laurels. Only this week a report pub- lished by Eurostat showed that Malta is the second member state following Cyprus with the lowest rate of households with disability reporting heavy burden of hous- ing costs. This reaffirms the Gov- ernment's commitment towards people with disabilities. NEVER make a promise that you have no intention of keep- ing: these past eight years have seen countless broken promises that did not materialize. But I believe there was never even the intention to try and keep these promises, such as the pledge for transparency. I am not only talking about contracts such the Vitals Global Healthcare and others that had more black marker than printed words when presented to Parlia- ment. All these contracts were all paid for by public finances; in a normal country where public finances are supposed to be ac- counted for and completely trans- parent, one can only imagine the intention behind it all. Consider what was redacted with "black marker" – such as the €100 million termination clause in the case of Vitals. There have been countless situations where the public was treated as second-class citizens and kept in complete darkness, on a need-to-know basis. The gov- ernment took the decision for us that "we did not need to know". But the most common subject this week while meeting people was the record number of infec- tions. The question I was asked was: what comes next? What are we supposed to do? And how did we get here? This is something that is bothering everyone, right- ly so. Who can blame people who are scared because they do not know the truth or who are worried about their loved ones? People want guarantees that things are happening the way they should and in an organised and transpar- ent manner. They deserve reas- surance that the situation is under control by experts; they deserve the truth. Ironically, we find ourselves in the same place we were last year. My heart goes out to every em- ployee, employer and shop owner who was, once again, shut down because of the situation. The lack of transparency, the complete ab- sence of the truth, has brought us to our knees. The strategy adopt- ed by the government did not al- low us to prepare for what was to come; we never had a chance. We need, now more than ever, to let people know what is hap- pening. We need to ensure that we don't only listen to the people but act on their needs. We need to allow medicine and professionals lead the way out of the hole we are in. After what happened this week following the explosion of cases and listening to the government's press conference, I cannot blame people for worrying. During these past weeks, we have heard numer- ous stories of our elderly who have not been sent an appointment for vaccination and felt completely lost; others who have received more than one appointment and extremely vulnerable persons who have, until now, received nothing. People are losing hope: they feel they are being denied the truth and that they are insignificant, that they don't matter. Let's give people reassurance, encouragement and guarantees. Let's restore their faith, not with 'positivity' propaganda, but with transparency and truth. The Op- position leader knows this and that is why he has called for the imposition of a public health emergency that will allow medical experts to take control, give them more power than politicians. This call for action needs to be backed by all, to have all sides complying with medical decisions taken for us to move forward. The last week's measures are needed, but they should have been taken earlier. Bernard Grech's clear message was that these measures are just as important as the vaccination process and we have the obligation to be serious, correct and truthful to the Mal- tese public. The leader of the Opposition is doing what the government is not doing: leading the way people want, someone who tells them the truth Julia Farrugia Portelli is minister for inclusion and social wellbeing Ivan Castillo is a PN candidate and President SHPN Julia Farrugia Portelli Ivan Castillo 12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 MARCH 2021 OPINION Beyond lip service Transparency: even in dealing with Covid