News Archives - Page 19 of 34 - aditus foundation

Our work at EU level supported by Government

Today we joined a long list of other NGOs to receive financial support from Minister Helena Dalli, Minister for Social Dialouge, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties (MSDC), for our work at the EU level.

Through the Civil Society Fund the Ministry enables civil society organisations to be active players in our respective sectors, thereby bridging the gap between EU-level policy-making and Maltese grassroots realities.

“The objectives of the Civil Society Fund (CSF) are the following:

to assist CSOs to keep abreast with the developments occurring at an EU level;
to enable CSOs to better educate their members on EU matters related to their respective fields of competence; and
to enable CSOs to participate effectively in the decision-making process at a European level.”

We’ve been benefitting from the CSF for a number of years, particularly since we are keen to bring Malta’s migration/asylum realities on the EU agenda, and because we rely heavily on our networks to support our national advocacy, public awareness and litigation activities.

Specifically, the CSF contributes to our annual memberships with the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE). Through these memberships we receive regular news updates on EU legal and policy initiatives, and attend several training seminars and workshops that are aimed at influencing national and regional laws and policies.

The CSF contribution also enables our Director’s participation at ECRE’s Annual General Conferences, offering excellent networking and learning opportunities.

Importantly, the CSF also supports Neil’s participation in the meetings of the ECRE Board, where he represents ECRE’s member organisations based in the Mediterranean region.

“We’re extremely fortunate that the Ministry supports these kind of civil society activities.

This assistance makes the sector stronger and more effective, without impinging on our independence.”

Minister Helena Dalli

aditus at a training on conflict resolution from a gender perspective

14731115_10211166100098291_8041586162302006293_n From 23th to 27^th October 2016, the Toledo International Centre for Peace (CITpax) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Defence and Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, organised the Training workshop Mediation and conflict resolution from a gender perceptive, addressed to women from civil society with a capacity to reach out to decision-makers.

Antonella, our Programmes Officer, flew to Spain, to Toledo, a city that has been known as a city of tolerance or the City of Three Cultures, with the coexistence of Jews, Muslims and Christians.

The seminar promoted women’s capacities in mediation and conflict resolution, it brought together and involved the participation of 12 women from the following countries: Spain, Tunisia, France, Greece, Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, and Bosnia Herzegovina.

Besides the overall objective of familiarising women with the techniques and main tools in the field of mediation, the course aimed at sensitising the trainees to the need of active participation in conflict management, both open and latent; strengthen the processes of social dialogues and the civil participation of women.

In our discussions, we shared experiences and good practices, we raised critical points and we explored how the cultural diversity and expansion of mediation practice and the identifying cultural sensitivity of gender stereotype, are focusing the mediation process on the gender power.

The theoretical sessions, the group exercises and the games held during the seminar, demonstrated there is a sense in which human actions are gendered, especially in mediation practice. The trainers suggested ways and means gender difference can be deconstructed in the social space and bring strength to men and women in times of weakness.

The four-day workshop was facilitated by Fadhila Mammar, Adviser of CITpax and Cynthia Petrigh, international expert in humanitarian negotiation and dissemination of humanitarian norms, with more than 20 years’ experience of intervention in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Many issues are still on the table: Where, why and to what extent does feminism interact with security state, how feminist theories can excavate the deep connections between the indigenous dispossession and heteropatriarchy, and the patriarchal structure of all religious authority. The follow up of the training will be the creation of a network of women across borders.

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Update on our main access to justice project

The ATLAS (Access to Legal Assistance) project (1 May 2016 – 30 April 2017) is moving forward!

Alessia, our new Project Officer, has finally moved to Malta and, together with Carla, they have identified relevant stakeholders and are now conducting interviews with service providers.

We have already met the General Legal Aid Unit and the Third Country Nationals Unit, gathering information about the actual availability of legal assistance in Malta for asylum, civil and criminal proceedings.

We have also spoken to pro bono lawyers and NGOs providing free legal aid, for the purpose of gauging access to legal assistance and identifying the effective need for pro bono systems within a corporate social responsibility.

We will conduct several more stakeholder interviews to understand how service-users access legal aid services, and to note their experiences with the system.

Interviews will contribute to our research, that will focus on international and EU obligations in relation to provision of legal assistance, on current Maltese legislation and legal aid systems, as well as on recent proposals to the justice reform initiative in order to guarantee access to free legal assistance.

We are constantly following new legal developments so to have a comprehensive knowledge of the right of access to a lawyer.

Also, as part of the capacity-building aim of the ATLAS project, we are organising a national workshop. We have invited national and international speakers and organisations for them to cast light on Malta’s obligations to provide legal aid as a fundamental human right of all people who are accused or suspected of crimes, who face any period of imprisonment, are involved in serious or complex cases, or who do not have the capacity to defend the case themselves.

Our aim is to define the possibilities to create and maintain an efficient legal aid system in Malta.

If you have any views on legal aid in Malta, or want further information on this project, get in touch with Alessia Cicatiello at alessiacicatiello@aditus.org.mt.

This project is funded through the Voluntary Organisations Project Scheme managed by the Ministry for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties.

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What support for refugees who are victims of violence & torture?

It is generally estimated that between 5% and 35% of asylum seekers are torture survivors.

Post-traumatic stress disorder can range from 20%-40%, while depression rates can vary from 30%-70% of the refugee population.

‘Time for Needs: Listening, Healing, Protecting | A Joint Action for an Appropriate Assessment of Special Needs of Victims of Torture and Violence’ teams us up with colleagues in Italy, Germany, France, Greece, Portugal and Belgium.

The project’s general objective is to contribute to the identification of special needs of victims of torture and of extreme violence, in particular women and children, related to the asylum procedures as well as the reception conditions.

Together with our partners, we’ll be interviewing national stakeholders, discussing identification and support systems with refugees.

We also aim to develop harmonized protection standards and practices for this vulnerable target group, including a practical tool for assessment of the needs of refugees who have been victims of torture or violence.

Visit the Project Page for further information.

The project is partly financed by the European Commission Directorate General Migration and Home Affairs.

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Social innovation for the integration and inclusion of refugees

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The European Council of Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), in partnership with the Council of Europe and its network of Intercultural Cities, the US Mission to the EU, the Mission of Canada to the EU and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), organized a seminar on social innovation for the integration and inclusion of refugees. Neil (Director) and Antonella (Programmes Officer) participated in the seminar.

The seminar, held in Brussels on 12 and 13 September 2016, aimed to look at innovative methods to foster the participation of asylum-seekers and refugees in societies from arrival to the granting of citizenship or other long-term solution, with a special focus on participatory mechanisms, strategies and tools in order to prepare communities and cities for more inclusiveness.

The two-day seminar hosted speakers ranged from refugee groups to civil society organisations, cities, tech companies, start-ups, and private sector representatives from around Europe. We shared experiences, inspiring tools and successful policies for social integration of refugees. In our discussions, we explored how the challenge lies not only in responding to the most pressing reception needs, such as registration and accommodation, but also in finding new solutions for the effective and sustainable inclusion of refugees in a complex political, social and economic.

Interestingly, the use of technology emerged as one of the most innovative approaches to social change – housing, access to higher education, friendship and inclusion, language barriers, anti-discrimination tool, info provider – with the added value of putting solutions in the hands of refugees and practitioners.

Refugees’ access to higher education and the recognition of their qualifications was a major of discussion, together with strategies that align transformative change efforts made by policymakers and social actors such as NGOs, health services, researchers, foundations, diaspora communities, etc.

“Innovation culture, social innovators, tech approach, fast mobilisation, innovative and entrepreneurial strategies…quite an intense brainstorming! The field of humanitarian innovation presents several transformational challenges relating to refugee inclusion in Europe.

I am looking forward to talking more about this innovation in a number of fields: health & care, education, work integration, sports, microcredit & insurance, housing and digital inclusion.” (Antonella Sgobbo, Programmes Officer)

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