The Ministry for Social Policy and Children’s Rights of the Child achieves an international award for the implementation of a package of social measures during the pandemic
The International Association for Social Security (ISSA) has acknowledged the work carried out by the Ministry for Social Policy and Children’s Rights to assist working parents, and workers with disabilities or medically vulnerable who have been affected by the effects of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, as well as those who had temporarily lost their jobs due to Covid.
The Maltese work has gained recognition alongside those of social security institutions from Israel, Germany and France. The awards were presented at a European forum being organized by NOW in Estonia between 2 and 3 May 2022.
On behalf of the Ministry, and on behalf of the Financial Aid and Compliance Division and the Department of Social Security, the certificate of merit was received by the Director General of Social Security Grazio Barbara and the Director of International Relations Alexia Vella.
Mr Barbara was also asked to deliver a presentation on the special social benefits package which was launched shortly and the simplification work done to help bring closer to 9,000 people affected by the pandemic who had to leave work or stay home for some reason or another.
The association stated that in its work, the Ministry for Social Policy and the Children’s Rights has not only recognized the challenges, but also to turn them into an opportunity to further improve the quality of services and strengthen communication with its customers.
This was the second award the Ministry received from the same association, when in 2019 it was awarded another certificate of merit for the package of measures introduced to reduce dependence on social benefits and to enable people enter the world of work.