Representatives of the national Equality Council and of the Advocate Office, led by heads of both institutions, Ian Feldman and Ceslav Panico, paid a visit to relevant Maltese counterparts on 16 and 17 April 2024, with the aim to learn from the experience of Maltese authorities in countering hatred and protecting the rights of vulnerable persons.

The visit started with a courtesy meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malta, the Hon. Anglu Farrugia, to discussion about the activities initiated  by the Maltese Parliament aiming to become more accessible for citizens and respond to their needs, outlining examples in the area of children, youth, and elderly people protection.

Further, the delegation from the Republic of Moldova engaged in an exchange with the Parliamentary Ombudsman of Malta, Judge Emeritus Joseph Zammit McKeon and its team. The meeting focused on the implementation of European standards in preventing and combating discrimination, best practices and challenges related to institutions’ mandates, successful cooperation between actors in the anti-discrimination field, including public authorities, civil society, academia and private sector.

Rhoda Garland, the Commissioner for the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) and her team also welcomed the Moldovan delegation, sharing practices in assessing anti-discrimination legislation and policies and ensuring adequate protection for persons with disabilities, ensuring efficient and accessible complaints mechanisms in cases of discrimination for blind, deaf and other marginalized persons, including monitoring observance and compliance of the rights of persons with mental disabilities.

A meeting was also held with Renee Laiviera, Commissioner & Acting Executive Director of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality of Malta (NCPE). This was an opportunity to learn more about tools to respond to discrimination, in line with European standards, based on the NPCE experience at national level and discuss the main challenges in preventing and combating discrimination. As an important aspect, the preventive role was tackled, through improving awareness raising for a better protection of rights of vulnerable persons and groups.

During all meetings, the importance of joining efforts between the Equality bodies and Ombudsman institutions to prevent and combat discrimination and increase equality in  society has been highlighted. In addition, the mutual understanding on challenges faced by anti-discrimination actors from different countries was underscored, and a range of opportunities for future cooperation were identified, which will enhance the capacities of institutions in Moldova to respond more effectively to discrimination issues.

The study visit was organised as part of the European Union and Council of Europe joint programme Partnership for Good Governance, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the project Combating discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes in the Republic of Moldova.