The Malta Children’s Associations Network (MaltaCAN) is a new platform inspired by Eurochild President, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, to promote, foster, and support children’s rights and child participatory mechanisms in Malta.

‘This is the first network of its kind in Malta and I believe it will open up new possibilities for the effective implementation of children’s rights at a local level. It will also consolidate the efforts of all these 13 organisations – and others who wish to join – to achieve meaningful child participation in all sectors of our society,’ Ms Coleiro Preca, former President Emeritus, said.

The network is being facilitated by the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society as part of its fifth anniversary celebrations. It will align its work with the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child, and prioritise child participation through an integrative and collaborative approach.

Ms Coleiro Preca said: ‘As President of Eurochild, I strongly believe MaltaCAN is a step in the right direction to ensure children will truly become valued contributors to our society, as they rightfully deserve. The network is a collaborative effort to ensure children’s rights are observed and meaningful child participatory mechanisms are in place. It is truly this spirit of collaboration which needs to be nurtured in Malta to achieve the goals enshrined in the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child, which celebrates its 30th Anniversary this year.’

The network’s main aim is to ensure better understanding of children’s rights, and put mindfulness practices on the national agenda.

The importance of children’s rights is widespread, capturing all areas of society, and thus the network brings together numerous organisations whose main interest is a child’s well-being.

The founding members include: the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, Assistance to Children in Care Association (ACICA), Birdlife Malta, Fondazzjoni Sebħ, Karl Vella Foundation, Church Schools Children’s Fund, Malta Dyslexia Association, Malta Girl Guides, MGRM, National Foster Care Association Malta (NFCAM), Right2Smile, Early Childhood Development Association Malta (ECDAM); Salesians of Don Bosco, together with the Salesians Pastoral Youth Services.

Ms Coleiro Preca said the strengths of each respective member complemented the network’s vision for a multidisciplinary approach to mainstreaming children’s rights.

The members, she added, would be encouraged to pursue network exchanges to strengthen their role in affecting change, establish a child right’s champion model, and share their expertise with the network to provide training and capacity building in relevant fields and sectors.

Interested NGOs who would like to join MaltaCAN should email maltachildrensnetwork(at)gmail(dot)com or reach MaltaCAN on Facebook.

Childhub

You might like..

0
1
Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society at San Anton Palace organized a roundtable hosting 13 prospective members of the European Parliament (MEP) candidates and a group of children looking to appoint the new MEP who will be representing them in the…
0
11
Home Affairs Ministry of Malta published that 104 unaccompanied migrants under 18, mostly males, arrived in the country in 2018. The youngest was just 11 years old. Based on the country's  procedure these children are first carried to the…
0
15
The Roma community is one of the largest minority groups in the EU, with an estimated number of 10 million Roma living in Europe. Helena Dalli, the EU new commissioner for equality, has stated that she will soon visit one of the most discriminated…
0
1
Following the first roundtable in January 2019, during which children had the opportunity to voice their opinions and share their priority areas with EU election candidates, a follow-up roundtable was organised by the President’s Foundation for the…
0
32
Eurochild member from Ukraine Voices of Children Charitable Foundation has published a book with 100 emotional quotes from children and a report featuring key problems and needs of Ukraine's children The book of…
0
28
Malta is a signatory of the international convention on child protection, but children from non-EU countries are no longer eligible to reside in Malta if their parents’ yearly salary is under €19,000, plus €3800 per child. There are a…
0
17
The Party of European Socialists (consisting of the Socialist, Social Democratic, Labour and Democratic Parties from all around Europe), aims to preserve values like democracy, freedom, equality and justice. Which is why it acts in the child-…
0
10
(17 April 2019, Brussels) Her Excellency Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Former President of Malta has been elected President of Eurochild, a children’s rights advocacy network with 176 members in 34 countries. The elections took place during the…
0
13
A newly published report from Malta, conducted in 2018 by the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS), unveiled statistics on the work of the Youth Services of Agenzija Appogg National Support line 179, which only last year received…
0
1
More than 90 Maltese academics together with 232 other academics from all over the European Union issues a press release urging Member States to open their ports and allow  the 49 migrants currently stranded in the Mediterranean Sea to safely…
0
18
Eurochild President and Chair of the Malta Foundation Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca emphasises the importance of fostering an inclusive attitude towards LGBT+ families. Originally published in The Malta Independent, Marie-Louise marks Malta Pride Week…
0
194
ECPAT, as part of its ‘Stop Trafficking Children and Young People Campaign’, together with the Body Shop, produced a factsheet about the situation of child trafficking in Malta, including the country’s legislative framework and prevention…
0
5
The purpose of this paper is to give meaning and insight into some of the key drug and alcohol issues that affect children from the perspectives of the children themselves. It is not to estimate the relative magnitude of a specific drug or alcohol…
0
8
We are sharing the national representative survey "Voices of the Children" conducted by the Market Links research agency in the period January - February 2017, as per a UNICEF Bulgaria assignment. It follows the model of one of the largest…
0
10
The Children’s Voice survey is a survey that Save the Children regularly composes on themes related to children’s daily life. The objective of the survey is to lift up the voices and experiences of children and young people so that they would be…