Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/252940
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2014 9 MIRIAM DALLI POLICY review in real income and social benefits, education, health, employment, culture, housing and social welfare services is deemed key in government's fight against poverty and social exclusion. After 10 months engaged in pub- lic consultation meetings and hold- ing talks with NGOs and experts, the Ministry for Family and Social Solidarity this week launched a Green Paper outlining the frame- work for poverty reduction. The Green Paper will see the Labour government commit itself to reduce Malta's poverty rate by 22,000 persons by next year. The ambitious challenge comes as a total of 22,801 children live at risk of poverty or social exclusion. 13,000 of these kids live in house- holds with an annual income of €6,500. 3,000 others live in house- holds with an annual income of €8,800. As is Social Solidarity Minister Marie Louise Coleiro Preca's most repeated quote, poverty in Malta is not a perception but a reality. A statistics on income and living conditions survey carried out in 2012, placed females in the north- ern harbour as the group most at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The numbers totalled 15,448, fol- lowed by 13,428 females living in the southern harbour. In the case of males, 13,328 liv- ing in the northern harbour were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, followed by 11,438 in the southern harbour. Due to a smaller population, Gozo and Comino registered a to- tal of 5,168 males and females. Collectively, the six regions regis- tered a staggering 93,783 individu- als living at risk of poverty or social exclusion. A Social Face of Europe 2012 report found that more and more Maltese citizens are at risk of en- tering the poverty trap, but fewer manage to exit. According to the Green Paper, Malta also tends to score low in terms of opportunities for social mobility. In fact, 2011 statistics show that only one in seven people manage to move up from the lowest tier of society. Children, young people, elderly and the unemployed are at greater risk of poverty or social exclusion, but not only. Persons suffering from physical and mental health problems, those experiencing abuse, asylum seekers and im- migrants, persons with addictive behaviour and those suffering different sorts of discrimination are all at risk. According to Coleiro Preca, the Green Paper seeks to promote "a two-pronged" approach through adequate income and high qual- ity social services. One of the key policy options of the Green Paper seeks to ad- dress in the real income and social benefits. The government is now urging stakeholders to consider a number of policy options includ- ing consolidating the social benefit system through the streamlining and simplification of means-tested benefit. As part of the pensions reform programme, a study of ways to allow future retirees to buy back years – thus allowing individuals to retire on some form of pension without resorting to social assist- ance – is being proposed. Despite undergoing various re- forms, Malta's social protection ex- penditure as a percentage of GDP has fallen since 2009, especially for people with a disability, the unwell, the old aged and the unemployed. Alternattiva Demokratika has persistently called on the differ- ent administrations to increase the minimum wage. AD's social policy spokesperson Robert Callus yesterday argued that the rise in poverty and mate- rial deprivation rates should be addressed through concrete poli- cy initiatives assisting vulnerable groups and promoting greater so- cial justice. "Raising minimum wage is a tan- gible measure to combat in-work poverty, to make work pay and en- courage greater active inclusion," Callus said, adding that the current rate of minimum wage was keeping "hundreds of families in poverty". Noting that the Green Paper gave a comprehensive analysis of the poverty situation, yet it "presents nothing really new in terms of pragmatic initiatives". In terms of employment, the government has committed it- self to provide for free childcare where both parents are employed and to working single parents who are the primary care givers. It has also pledged to ensure the active inclusion of the marginalised into the workforce using employment incentives, work-based learning, cooperatives and other social en- terprises. News Call for tenders: Procurement of Technical Expertise for the Inspection and Verification Services of Renewable Energy Sources Installations and Energy Efficiency Measures The Director General, Planning and Priorities Co-ordination Division, notifies that further information on this call for tenders is available from www.ppcd.gov.mt/procurement. Prospective tenderers must submit their electronic tender at www.etenders.gov.mt until 09.30 CET of Monday, 10 th March 2014. Operational Programme I – Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 Investing in Competitiveness for a Better Quality of Life Advert part-financed by the European Union European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Co-financing rate: 85% EU Funds; 15% National Funds Investing in your future Villa Bonici decision expected on Thursday vised for this zone. According to the case officer's report the project, will result in the complete destruction of the gar- dens. A proposed eight-storey block would also have an adverse impact on the scheduled villa, due to the short distance between the two buildings. In a statement, NGO Zminijietna urged MEPA to ensure that the proposed development is subject to a development brief which includes comprehensive public consulta- tion, before pursuing it any further, and that any development should be subject to an environment im- pact assessment, social impact as- sessment and traffic impact assess- ment. The Sliema Residents Association had insisted that the area should be developed for community pur- poses. The Sliema Local council had also objected to development in the ab- sence of a comprehensive develop- ment brief. Its present owner, Alfred Gera de Petri, has insisted that Villa Bo- nici is his family's private property and that the villa's location in the middle of urban development gave its owners rights to its monetary value. "Some people, in their unbridled enthusiasm, seem to forget that owners do have rights and that these are also protected by the Con- stitution and the European Court," Gera de Petri had told the Times. Combating poverty and social exclusion through cross-sectoral policies Marie Louise Coleiro Preca (centre)