countries - Malta

The information contained on this page was compiled in April 2009 by our country team:

Contact:
Joseph M. Camilleri
Kummissjoni Nazzjonali Persuni b'Diżabilità (National Commission Persons with Disability)
Istituto Vincenzo Bugeja
Centru Hidma Socjali
Triq Braille Sta.
HMR18 Venera

Email: jmcamilleri@knpd.org
Web: http://www.knpd.org

The full text can be downloaded here.

The key national bodies with responsibility for disability law and policy implementation include:

Kummissjoni Nazzjonali Persuni b'Dizabilita (National Commission Persons with Disability, KNPD)

Malta has signed the United Nations Convention and  the Optional Protocol.

Important national laws, policies and strategies concerning disabled people include:

Key features of the national system include (including adapted items from the MISSOC database December 2008):

Disability benefits

A compulsory social insurance scheme is financed by contributions from the active population (employees and self-employed) and provides earnings-related pensions depending on contributions and the duration of affiliation.(MISSOC, 2008)

Data on population indicate that:

In 2005, the total Maltese population stood at 404,962. The number of disabled people constituted 23,848 (5.9%) of the total population compared with 381,114 (94.1%) non-disabled people.

No academic networks or resources that are specific to disability issues exist at present.

The national organisation representing disabled people at the European level (European Disability Forum) is:

 Malta Federation of Organisations Persons with Disability

Other significant national organisations of disabled people include:

Maltese Council of Disabled Persons (MCoDP, theborg@onvol.net)

Deaf People Association, Malta

Malta Society Of The Blind (socblindmalta@global.net.mt)

Useful sources of more detailed information about the situation of disabled people, and the policies and support available, include:

ETC: Employment Training Corporation (2005) Job search and Persons with Disability - Results of a study among persons with disability and employers, Malta: ETC.