Error message

Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in drupal_settings_initialize() (line 802 of /backup/agenda/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc).

Self Report 2017

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

Expand All

3A
Reduce and address displacement

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • In its endeavours to ensure full integration of refugees, Malta is committed to provide all students, irrespective of their nationality or ability, with all possible support services, such as psychological support, counselling services, career guidance services, as well as language training.


  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Malta is committed to addressing the needs of forcibly displaced persons also at the local level.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Malta is committed to continue working towards a long-term common EU vision and a comprehensive approach to this crisis, including a truly common European asylum system. Malta is steadfastly committed to a common, fair and sustainable EU approach where all Member States pull their weight.
  • Policy
  • Leave No One Behind

  • Malta is committed to provide persons with subsidiary protection or refugee status with language training and adult education services. Refugees are eligible to register for work and are also eligible to participate in active labour market policies.


  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind

  • Malta is committed to provide primary, secondary and vocational education and certification for those living in displacement, in line with national qualifications and standards, and to ensure safe, quality and inclusive access to primary and secondary education and vocational opportunities in and after crises.


  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to a new approach to addressing forced displacement that not only meets immediate humanitarian needs but reduces vulnerability and improves the resilience, self-reliance and protection of refugees and IDPs. Commit to implementing this new approach through coherent international, regional and national efforts that recognize both the humanitarian and development challenges of displacement. Commit to take the necessary political, policy, legal and financial steps required to address these challenges for the specific context.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Commit to promote and support safe, dignified and durable solutions for internally displaced persons and refugees. Commit to do so in a coherent and measurable manner through international, regional and national programs and by taking the necessary policy, legal and financial steps required for the specific contexts and in order to work towards a target of 50 percent reduction in internal displacement by 2030.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Acknowledge the global public good provided by countries and communities which are hosting large numbers of refugees. Commit to providing communities with large numbers of displaced population or receiving large numbers of returnees with the necessary political, policy and financial, support to address the humanitarian and socio-economic impact. To this end, commit to strengthen multilateral financing instruments. Commit to foster host communities' self-reliance and resilience, as part of the comprehensive and integrated approach outlined in core commitment 1.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Commit to collectively work towards a Global Compact on responsibility-sharing for refugees to safeguard the rights of refugees, while also effectively and predictably supporting States affected by such movements.
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Commit to actively work to uphold the institution of asylum and the principle of non-refoulement. Commit to support further accession to and strengthened implementation of national, regional and international laws and policy frameworks that ensure and improve the protection of refugees and IDPs, such as the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol or the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala convention) or the Guiding Principles on internal displacement.
  • Leave No One Behind

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Malta strongly believes that the international community’s way forward in tackling migration issues and poverty eradication must come from Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals. In order to ‘leave no one behind’ Malta committed to integrate refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection effectively into society. These commitments were made to ensure that such persons are given the required opportunities. This was considered necessary as beneficiaries of international protection are considered to be vulnerable. Malta is committed to pushing for a long-term EU vision to the migration crisis and ensuring that the principle of solidarity is implemented among Member States.

  • Achievements at a glance

    In its efforts to integrate refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection fully into society, the Maltese government is providing a full spectrum of services to every student who is attending compulsory schooling. These services include psychological and psychotherapy, social work, counselling, career guidance, anti-bullying, anti-substance and child safety, learning support centres, statementing procedures, etc. Malta is also committed to providing refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection with language training, adult education services and enabling them to register for work. In this regard, Malta provides Maltese as a foreign language and English as a foreign language to foreigners, including people with subsidiary protection or refugee status. Both categories are entitled to make use of the Adult Education Unit services like a normal Maltese or EU citizen with regards to access to service and tuition fees. Refugees are also eligible to register for work with Jobsplus, Malta’s public employment service.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Malta annually assesses the progress made towards achieving these commitments through an internal reporting mechanism. The procedure is coordinated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Malta has made significant progress towards fully integrating refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection. Malta is committed to providing community-based services to refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection. For instance, Malta is running four Resource Centres and a Special Unit in Sannat, Gozo, to reach out to migrants in that area. In addition, Jobsplus is currently in the process of implementing the recommendation on integrating refugees into active labour market policies.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Refugees ☑ Social protection

3E
Eliminate gaps in education for children, adolescents and young people

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • In its endeavours to ensure full integration of refugees, Malta is committed to provide all students, irrespective of their nationality or ability, with all possible support services, such as psychological support, counselling services, career guidance services, as well as language training.


  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • Malta fully supports the establishment of a platform to secure safe access to education for children in crises to ensure that no child should miss more than a month off school as a result of crisis.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind

  • Malta is committed to provide persons with subsidiary protection or refugee status with language training and adult education services. Refugees are eligible to register for work and are also eligible to participate in active labour market policies.


  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind

  • Malta is committed to provide primary, secondary and vocational education and certification for those living in displacement, in line with national qualifications and standards, and to ensure safe, quality and inclusive access to primary and secondary education and vocational opportunities in and after crises.


  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Malta believes that in order for sustainable development to become a reality, education must be prioritised. This is the only way to enable the world to constructively tackle the challenges it faces and create truly resilient societies. On a national level, Malta wanted to ensure a change in practice and policy with these commitments, which aim to have a twofold impact. They aim to combat absenteeism in education in Malta and to ensure that those living in displacement are provided with access to primary, secondary, and vocational education, even during or after a personal crisis.

  • Achievements at a glance

    Malta has developed the Addressing Attendance in School Policy. This policy plays an important role in ensuring a collaborative initiative by educators, administrators and parents to support students in their studies, and to raise their achievements and performance by the time they complete their studies. A set of guidelines were drawn up, to ensure that all schools report absenteeism on time.

    Malta also committed to providing primary, secondary and vocational education and certification to those living in displacement, in line with national qualifications and standards and we give migrants and refugees the same rights as Maltese and EU citizens in the provision of primary, secondary and vocational education. Migrants are also eligible to attend the Public Employment Service training courses and have access to active labour market policies. They are also eligible to apply to be exempted from fees at state educational institutions.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Malta annually assesses the progress made towards achieving these commitments through an internal reporting mechanism. The procedure is coordinated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Malta will continue to improve its policies and practices regarding absenteeism in Maltese schools and regarding the provision of education and job training to refugees and migrants.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Refugees ☑ Social protection

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3A - Reduce and address displacement ☑ 3B - Address the vulnerabilities of migrants and provide more regular and lawful opportunities for migration

4C
Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • Malta commits to continue to actively participate within the respective structures of the EU, Commonwealth and UN in support of the strengthening of joint efforts towards humanitarian functions through ensuring better coordination and coherence of aid efforts at bilateral, regional and global level. This, also by virtue of Malta's current Chairmanship of the Commonwealth till 2018, and of its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2017.


  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Malta firmly believes that bridging the humanitarian-development divide is a change in policy and practice that is desperately needed to deliver effective humanitarian aid and development cooperation. Our efforts to affect this change encompass both the work we do with Malta’s humanitarian and development aid, and the work we do within the COHAFA and CODEV working parties to push for a change in EU policy.

  • Achievements at a glance

    Malta currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and as such, is spearheading discussions and working towards Council conclusions to address the humanitarian-development nexus, in order to explore further the synergies between development and humanitarian actors.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Malta annually assesses the progress made towards achieving these commitments through an internal reporting mechanism. The procedure is coordinated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Effectively bridging the gap between humanitarian aid and development cooperation obviously carries some challenges because each has been a distinct field for so long. Malta is trying to push for increased cooperation where possible, whilst allowing each to retain its own features.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Malta aims to ensure that our humanitarian aid will have a sustainable aspect, in order to bridge the gap between the initial humanitarian response and the following longer-term development programme.

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Commitment to Action: Transcending the humanitarian - development divide

5A
Invest in local capacities

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • Malta commits to ensure that its unilateral humanitarian efforts are directed increasingly towards pooled fund mechanisms, which have proved their worth as effective implementers of humanitarian aid.
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity

  • Malta commits to targetting a percentage of its ODA to situations of fragility and to support national and local capacity building in vulnerable countries.


  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity

Core Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Core Responsibility
  • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Malta firmly believes that the best way to empower developing countries to take charge of their own development is through investing in national and local capacity building. Donors need to target aid towards sustainable projects that also provide resilience to outside shocks.

  • Achievements at a glance

    A portion of Malta’s Official Development Assistance goes to projects that Maltese NGOs propose to implement in developing countries. When these NGOs apply for funds from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ ODA budget, the sustainability criteria for the project is crucial to that project being accepted.

    In 2016, Malta co-financed ODA projects in Morocco, India, Ghana, Madagascar, Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi. The projects focused on a range of issues, such as increasing food security, providing health care, education, improving basic sanitation and basic water supply.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Malta annually assesses the progress made towards achieving these commitments through an internal reporting mechanism. The procedure is coordinated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

    Malta also requires that NGOs, which receive co-financing from the above Ministry to implement an ODA project in a developing country, submit quarterly reports on the progress made on their project. This gives Malta crucial feedback on how our official development assistance is being spent and whether the NGO is meeting the targets given.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    The challenges associated with reaching the target of 0.70% ODA/GNI.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Malta aims to allocate more funds for ODA purposes next year in order to expand Malta’s humanitarian and development assistance budget.

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4A - Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems ☑ 5E - Diversify the resource base and increase cost-efficiency