Full report of the conference

Date:  15 September 2023

Location:  University of Malta, Valletta Campus 

Organisers: SOS Malta, in collaboration with co-hosts Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal and Bodossaki Foundation in consortium with SolidarityNow, Greece.

Moderator: 

Rachael M Scicluna, urban anthropologist and Housing Consultant for SOS Malta 

Speakers:

Maria Montes Miguel, President of Asociación Española de Gestores Públicos de Vivienda y Suelo (AVS)

Clara Mafe Cortés, Innovation Projects Coordinator at Housing Europe

Matthew Zerafa, CEO, Malta Housing Authority

Meriç Özgünes, Programme Manager at Major Development Agency of Thessaloniki

Jorge Malheiios, Unit Research Coordinator at the Centre of Geographical Studies of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon

Ioanna Pertsinidou, Project Manager, Médecins Sans Frontières

Rita Silva, researcher and social activist for the right to housing, Portugal

Anthony Camilleri, CEO, YMCA Malta

Rachael M Scicluna, urban anthropologist and Housing Consultant for SOS Malta 

This conference was organised under the ACF Regional Civil Society Initiatives outcome of the Active Citizens Fund (ACF) Progamme for Malta funded by the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 of which SOS Malta is the fund operator.

Concept

This half-day international conference was organised to raise awareness of the challenges and priorities related to housing affordability. 

The social value and affordability of our homes are often sidelined in economic analyses and the political debate on housing. 

The critical perspective shared by all the speakers at the conference provided the opportunity to discuss new housing trends and challenges that promote innovative financial incentives and climate adaptation strategies that would increase affordable housing in the Mediterranean Region. The international and local speakers came from the fields of policymaking, housing studies, spatial planning, geography, political science, urban anthropology and homelessness.  

The agenda of the conference combined keynotes and panel debates by experts, practitioners and leaders within the sector with a thematic focus on social value, affordability, quality of life, and accessible infrastructure for all. 

Key Message

By taking a critical perspective of the current housing market, we aimed at broadening the meaning and remit of what affordable housing is, who it is built for, what it stands for, what it can achieve, and how it can narrow the injustice, exclusion, and discrimination inbuilt within housing systems. Developing affordable housing through sensitive and evidence-based recommendations may contribute to reshaping the housing market through an infrastructure that ‘cares’.

Modern housing developments can improve their designs and service provision through dialogue, collaborative methodologies, and an outward-looking post-pandemic housing toolkit. Such housing policies require a deep understanding of changing demographics and modern households to develop planning policies based on equity, affordability, access, and a secure and safe surrounding environment. The combination of service provision, compassionate governance, engagement strategies and social research is key to striking a balance between capital, quality of life and the natural environment. It is also quintessential to find alternative ways to allocate funds across sectors, including community-led initiatives within the third sector.

Links

Recording of the conference

Presentation

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Call for Applications for Researcher for the Active Citizen Lab.

ACL Project Call for Research

UPDATE:
DEADLINE extended till Monday 23rd November

ACL Project Call for Research

Details of the call for the role

The below are terms of reference for the role of a Research for the Active Citizen Lab Project.   The research is required  to use scientific methodology to get an understanding into the socio-political state of citizen empowerment, involvement and civic education in Malta with regards to the following main points looking at the perspective of both the citizen and voluntary organizations.

Introduction of research shall be the following:

1. Perception of being an Active Citizen in society
2. Level of civic education in the country
3. The readiness of people to use digital tools to be able to be active citizens in a democracy
4. Concerns, perceptions and anxieties of citizens.
5. Rights of the citizen 

Guidelines for Main Question

1. The role and purpose of CSO (VOs)s and Civil Society in Malta?
   1. Looking into how the general public views VOs and understanding the perspective 
   2. Looking into the understanding of the laws governing VOs.
   3. Seeking to understand the role of The Malta council of the Voluntary Sector (MCVS), the Council and its effectiveness for the sector.
   4. Looking into how much awareness about VO activities is present in Malta.
2. Citizen empowerment and education?
   1. How do citizens’ contribute to planning and decision making in community development activities?
   2. What conditions need to be developed for citizen empowerment and involvement?
   3. How do Social Networks influence the involvement of citizens?
3. The role of and application of Human Rights in society? 
   1. Question on what people think human rights are?
   2. Ask about knowledge of the UDHR
   3. Which Human Rights they believe are being violated 
4.  Issues that VOs are finding in Malta.
   1. Main projects and services being undertaken by VOs in Malta
   2. Areas of interest that are being dealt with. (include a choice of issues that are being present in Malta)
   3. Human Rights driven VOs
   4. Civil Society Organisations/Unions and Constituted Bodies and coercion
5. Local Government / Public Bodies roles.
   1. Police
   2. Local Council
   3. Ministries
   4. Public Services/Authorities 

Target groups:

Project brief:

The objectives of the PDP will be to empower and equip citizens and civil society, with necessary skills and tools to push for good governance, the rule of law and respect for human rights and democratic principles. 

Such a transformative educational tool would generate healthy and informed debates that can challenge and push forward the policy making process. This will correspond to Outcome 2: Increased Citizen Participation in civic activities and Outcome 3. Enhanced capacity and sustainability of civil society, and specifically to Output 3.3 Watchdog lab for Human Rights, Democracy, and Rule of Law created.

Active Citizens Lab project will have an online as well as offline component. The Active Citizens Lab will:  

1. Offer educational/informational materials and training courses to develop citizen journalism and human rights awareness amongst other skills; 
2. A civic action forum: a citizen alert web based feature that will serve to strengthen the capacity of civic voices. Empowering the general public to advocate for policy priorities, good governance, respect for human rights and democratic principles;
3. Professional support and practical assistance offered through an Advisory Board of Experts which will be delivered offline, through face-to-face meetings and online through informative materials and a chat/email based service.
   Topics covered will be research-based advocacy, gathering of public opinion data, media literacy, monitoring of respect of human rights and democratic principles, equality, development of legislation, etc.

The PDP will be designed following a research exercise to identify the needs of the sector with regards to Human Rights, Democracy and Active Citizenship issues in Malta. The research shall be the first output of the PDP imperative for the successful planning and implementation of subsequent actions proposed under the PDP. 

The main questions asked during this research phase will be related to the content and specific services that will be available on the online laboratory. The participation of target group of this PDP is crucial in the design of appropriate online tools and services. The research methodology will also include participatory methods, which will offer the advantage of direct interaction with stakeholders who can share issues of concern from their daily life experience in a more informal setting. Having as one of the main goals, to facilitate participation, the PDP will then be designed in the most appropriate way; identified together with the stakeholders according to their needs and realities. 

In December 2017, a stakeholder consultation, to identify specific needs and challenges in Malta was held. This stakeholder meeting was attended by 14 participants; representatives of organisations and associations, the Ministry of European Affairs and Equality, platforms and networks, journalists and activists. 
The specific challenges identified during the consultation were:

1. lack of civic participation in policy, governance and advocacy as well as 
2. a lack of support for vulnerable groups and 
3. vulnerable groups’ voices not being heard.
   
   

All of this was discussed in the context of good governance, human rights and the rule of law. Lack of good governance started being discussed in Malta most recently in the Malta Human Rights Report 2016, due to the weakening and deterioration of the democratic system and the rule of law, which  is undermining public trust in the authorities.  

Recent reports such as ‘The Rule of Law in Malta’ and ‘Governance in the EU Member States – Evidence from Three Global Indicators’, make reference to a major decline in Malta’s international rankings related to governance, rule of law, democracy and freedom of expression. 

This was further accentuated after Daphne Caruana Galizia - an investigative journalist in Malta - was murdered in October 2017 and the response of the authorities was neither satisfactory nor transparent in the eyes of many of the citizens. This incident made evident the recent decline in freedom of speech and journalism. The work of Daphne Caruana Galizia was mainly related to alleged acts of corruption by senior members of the Government and opposition, which reduce the accountability of the authorities and their ability to enforce the rule of law.

Due to the small and limited capacity of CSOs in Malta it is difficult for individual organisations to fully take on the role of a watchdog and promote transparency and accountability. What is more, censorship of civil society has also been witnessed, for example through the removal of billboards put up by the activist group, Occupy Justice.

Stakeholders also stressed that fake news and disinformation is on the rise, which makes it challenging for civil society to disseminate genuine and impartial information, and may cause additional harm to already vulnerable groups. Hate speech and discrimination based on race, religion, LGBTIQ identification, political opinion and belonging are worrying phenomena that threaten the respect of human rights, especially among these groups. 

Taking all these factors into consideration, SOS Malta felt it was imperative to create a PDP that would serve as a watchdog as well as empower both civic society and the general public to become more engaged active participants. 

Selection Criteria:

Expressions of Interest will be assessed by an  Evaluation Team according to the following criteria: 

• Applicants must submit a CV or a profile (in the case of companies applying for the post)
• Applicants must prove that they have the capacity of taking on such an initiative, by making reference to similar projects previously undertaken.
• Applicants must provide a plan including 
  • Methodology for:
    • assessing the perspective of citizens
    • assessing the perspective of voluntary organizations 
  • Analytical tools to be used

Terms and Conditions:

• The funds available for this research are capped at 5000 euro gross inc. VAT where applicable.
• Quote must be submitted within the stipulated deadline on acfmalta@sosmalta.org cc alexander.hili@sosmalta.org 
• Research questions would be carried out in both Maltese and English.
• Research report is to be provided in English
• Report needs to be submitted by mid-January 2021

Closing Date for Submission of Quote:  20th November Noon 

For any further questions or clarifications please contact Mr. Alex Hili on the below details by the 18th of November.

Alexander Hili

alexander.hili@sosmalta.org

ACF NGO Malta Programme Results of 1st Call

COVID-19 effects on Voluntary Organisations

SOS Malta, as fund operator for the Active Citizens Fund, has joined an initiative to identify the main effects and problems generated by the current coronavirus pandemic on the VOs and the beneficiary groups they serve.

The questionnaire is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ACFCOVID-19effects. We invite you to fill it in and help us identify possible remedial measures that could be adopted by public authorities or potential funders who could reconfigure their support programs for VOs. 

Announcement

Due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak, new guidelines have been adopted by the Fund Operator for the Active Citizens Fund Open Call for Proposals.

The deadline for applications will remain on the 27th of March and applications will be accepted only through online submission - https://activecitizensfund.mt/apply-call-for-proposals  Kindly note that the signature, stamp and initialization on each page will no longer be compulsory.  

Supporting documentation should be submitted together with the application however under the present circumstances we are fully aware that it might be difficult for you to be holding documents at home thus in such case we shall accept supporting documentation to be submitted at a later stage by Thursday 30th April (noon) latest. If you will not be uploading any of the supporting documents, an email declaration (the template can be downloaded here) is to be sent to the Fund Operator via email on acfmalta@sosmalta.org, upon submission of the application.

The following documents are to be submitted by 27th March: Application, Annex 1, 2, 3 and Organigrams. 

SOS Malta as fund operator of the Active Citizens Fund in Malta is requesting the expression of interest for the provision of evaluation services for the Open Call for Proposals under the ACF in Malta, in two thematic areas: human rights and social inclusion and, citizen participation in civic activities.

For more information please refer to the Terms of Reference which can be downloaded here.

The Active Citizens Fund in Malta is supported through a € 700.000 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as part of the EEA Grants 2014 – 2021.

ACF Malta aims to develop the sustainability and capacity of the civil society sector in Malta and strengthen the support for human rights and social inclusion and increase citizen participation in civic activities The Fund Operator for the Active Citizens Fund in Malta is SOS Malta.

The launch event of the Active Citizens Fund programme in Malta took place in Valletta on July 15, 2019.

SOS Malta gave an overview of the ACF Malta programme and the financial aspects

Presentation: Active-Citizens-Fund-Malta_Programme Overview Download

Presentation: Active-Citizens-Fund_Financial aspectsDownload

Presentation: Pre-defined projectDownload

Stephen D’Alessandro, Director of Advenio eAcademy presented the ‘The Effective Management of an NGO’ capacity building online course.