Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1526669
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 SEPTEMBER 2024 NEWS Anti-racism campaign receives barrage of racist comments where three people living in Malta share their experience with racism, one man accused foreigners of taking over the country. "You're the most self- ish (tosti) people on earth, go back to where you came from because Malta is for the Mal- tese," he wrote in horrible Maltese. MaltaToday reached out to the Directorate for Human Rights about the overwhelm- ing negative reaction. "Such reactions to our campaign is very worrying and is an in- dication that racism is Malta is prevalent," a spokesperson said. However, she also urged cau- tion. No baseline study has yet been done on racism in Malta, the directorate's spokesper- son said, clarifying that such comments are not necessari- ly representative of the entire population's belief. "However, comments on the campaign's posts or indeed many oth- er stories do indicate that we need to do more educational campaigns and other aware- ness initiatives against racism, and to foster a multi-cultural society." Given the fact that a large proportion of the comments mention Malta's overpopula- tion, the spokesperson clari- fied that the campaign did not try to diminish the importance of concerns related to migra- tion, population and integra- tion. "However, there is a line which cannot be crossed. Ra- cial hate speech is unaccept- able. It is illegal and can lead to hate crime." When asked about the neces- sary further action needed to address racism in Malta, the directorate spokesperson said: "Smart and effective awareness raising campaigns will contin- ue to be implemented within the framework of the upcom- ing second National Action Plan against Racism." ANNOUNCEMENT OF CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS UNDER THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND 2021-2027 The Ministry responsible for European Funds would like to announce that it is launching Call 22 for project proposals in the following area: Priority 1: PO 1 - A more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity RSO1.1. - Developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies (ERDF) The call shall target Public Sector investment in Research and Innovation. The call is open to project proposals submitted by Ministries, Government Departments and Public Sector entities and shall close on 12 th December 2024 at 16:00. The online application form for the submission of project proposals and supporting documentation are available on https://fondi.eu/what-funding-is-available/. Prospective applicants are encouraged to refer to the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the Just Transition Fund Programme and the Eligibility Guidance Notes to confirm whether their proposals are eligible for funding under this call for project proposals. Further information on this call and other calls may be obtained from https://fondi.eu/. Queries should be sent via email on fondi.eu@gov.mt. A dedicated information session is being organised on Wednesday, 2 nd October at 14:30 at the Servizzi Ewropej f'Malta offices – 280, Republic Street, Valletta. For further details, please access the QR code below.