UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VALLETTA 000027

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/PGI JIM KUYKENDALL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KWMN PHUM XG MT
SUBJECT: MALTA'S ENGAGEMENT ON WOMEN'S ISSUES

REF: STATE 09 STATE 124579

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1. (SUMMARY) Maltese women are under-represented at the decision
making level of most of Malta's government and business
organizations. From a total of 69 representatives in Parliament,
only six are female. Out of nine Ministers, only one is female.
Malta's female workforce has increased over the last two decades,
however female participation in Malta's workforce remains low in
comparison to other EU member states - only 38.5%. The Lisbon
Treaty target set for Malta is sixty percent, meaning that Malta has
to increase the female workforce by roughly twenty-two percent in
order to meet the EU targets. The Government of Malta is making
efforts to facilitate the increased participation of women in the
work-force, such as encouraging day-care centers for young children
and parental leave, but Malta still lags well behind other EU
states.


2. At the Bureau's request, post provides the following
information:


3. Details on current women's issues programs which highlight
Post's work with civil society, NGOs, local governments,
international or regional organizations, and other relevant
interlocutors:

Current embassy programs that address women's issues have focused on
TIP and economic empowerment. Malta has been ranked as a Tier II
Country in the Department's Trafficking in Person's Report. The
Embassy is working privately with the Government of Malta (GOM) to
increase the processing speed of these TIP prosecution, while Public
Diplomacy (PD) is using exchange programs to increase awareness
within the judiciary. PD has created a Single Country IV program on
judicial reform that will focus on the timely administration of
cases and trafficking issues. With Embassy support, the University
of Malta has requested a Fulbright Specialist come to the law school
to work on constitutional law issues including reforming the trial
system.

In Malta, growing attention is being given to the problem of
domestic violence. Post political officer has met with several
voluntary organizations which provide support to victims of domestic
violence and trafficking in persons, as well as with the government
agency (Appogg) which supports victims through the Ministry for

Social Policy. In November, post placed the Washington generated
Op-Ed Commemorating 16 Days Against Gender Based Violence, in the
local press and highlighted local organizations working on the issue
on the Embassy web page. Post senior leadership has also discussed
the issue of domestic violence with senior Maltese Catholic Church
officials.


4. Best practices on these issues, identified through both current
and past programs:

Embassy Malta's efforts have employed exchanges, small grants, and
outreach. Recent IV programs have included women's empowerment
topics such as FY09's "Business Development Issues for Women
Business Leaders." Currently, a female Maltese journalist is
studying at the University of Maryland as a Humphrey Fellow with the
expectation that she will become one of the few senior female
journalists in Malta. Post provided a series of small grants in
2007 to the Malta Women in Business Association to organize
conferences and speakers on issues related to women in business.
Post gives an annual "Women of Achievement" award during a reception
at the Ambassador's residence which helps post highlight women's
issues.


5. Illustrative examples of success stories, from current and past
initiatives that have focused on women's issues:

In 2007, the U.S. Embassy assisted the Malta Women in Business
Association to organize a series of conferences in which established
business leaders and students had the opportunity to discuss the
importance of female entrepreneurship, how business ethics can
address community concerns and best practices to achieve a work-life
balance. With post sponsorship, members of the organization SIPE -
Students in Private Enterprise - were able to participate in the
seminars. The goal of this initiative was to bring together
successful female business leaders with the next generation of
female entrepreneurs and to highlight two important principles of
responsible entrepreneurship: addressing social issues and
protecting our environment. Following the conference, the youths
expressed appreciation for the opportunity to learn from the
experience of female pioneers in the entrepreneurial sector in
Malta. They were positively influenced by the environmental theme
of the conference and completed a project to demonstrate how small
businesses can safeguard the environment. The students also
participated in a number of initiatives to promote Corporate Social
Responsibility by volunteering to assist local orphanages.


6. Opportunities where there is potential for increasing
cooperation between the United States and local governments and/or

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civil society groups on these issues:

Increased cooperation is possible in a variety of areas with
increased opportunities to provide exchanges and training.
Exchanges focused on encouraging women in business, law and
government and discouraging the incidents of domestic violence and
the trafficking in persons would be helpful. Training of police,
prosecutors, legislators and judges on measures required to increase
the effectiveness and speed of the judicial process would improve
Malta's ability to prosecute trafficking cases.


7. Identify areas where additional U.S. action and/or cooperation
on women's issues could be useful:

Although women are now the majority of higher education graduates
(1620 female, 1114 male in 2009) and have an increasing presence in
the workforce (38.5%, a 2.3% increase from 2007 to 2008), they are
underrepresented in management and their earnings are less than
those of their male counterparts. The European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
(http://www.eurofound.europa.eu) reported in January 2009 that the
pay gap was 23.25 percent. To encourage female employment, the GOM
introduced a tax refund incentive for those women who chose to
return to work. From 2006-to date, 3,652 women opted to take part in
the program. Speaker programs and/or IVLPs could be used to educate
government/NGO/citizenry on ways of facilitating initial access or
return to the workforce for those women desiring to do so.

DAVIS