International Solidarity
On several occasions, the Directorate was requested by the UN, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and from various governments to offer its services in helping other countries advance their human rights framework and policy.
More information can be accessed from Area 9 of each report published annually by the SOGIGESC Unit. All annual reports may be accessed from
here.
Conversion Practices
With the assistance from the SOGIGESC Unit, Malta’s Ambassador to Berlin participated in a discussion aimed at raising awareness on the dangers of conversion practices. Malta was invited in light of the exemplary manner it has implemented its legislation. Since then Germany has moved forward in the legislative process with a ban on conversion practices on minors being adopted in May 2020. In 2020, the Head of the HRD’s Legal Team participated in a round table in the USA organised by the UN SOGI Independent Expert Victor Madrigal Borloz, which also focused on efforts to combat conversion practices. The Head of the SOGIGESC Unit also presented Malta’s legislative framework in a conference held in Berlin as well as during the ILGA-Europe Conference in Prague in 2019. Conversations were also held with representatives of various governments and Civil Society Organisations interested in introducing similar provisions including from Australia, Canada, the UK and Netherlands among others.
Hosting of Study Visits
The SOGIGESC Unit has hosted several exchange visits to discuss good practices. Primarily:
- A study visit of the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX) officials from Montenegro which focused on policy and legislation related to gender identity and gender expression and recognition of same-sex couples
- The reception of a two-day visit from the South African Dialogue with the European Union funded from the External Action Service of the EU in August 2019. It was designed to share good practices between Malta and South Africa
- A study visit by a delegation from North Macedonia which primarily focused on legal gender recognition, and other themes related gender identity and expression
- A study visit by the UK Government Equalities Office to gain a better understanding of Malta’s Legal Gender Recognition framework.
- A study Visit by the UK Government LGBTI special envoy which focused on gaining a better understanding of Malta’s achievement in this field.
- A study Visit by a delegation from the Ministry for Women, Equality and Diversity of Argentina through the EUROsociAL Programme of the European Commission focusing on the inclusion of trans persons in employment.
Sharing of good practices
The HRID has the task of sharing the best human rights practices at a regional and international level, to cooperate with other states or intergovernmental organizations and to widely address discrimination. These included:
- A Webinar on legal gender recognition coordinated by the SOGI Unit within the Council of Europe to share good practices on the topic
- The participation of the Minister and Head of the SOGIGESC Unit in various conferences on Human Rights and LGBTIQ equality, held in a number of European cities including Vilnius, Vienna, Oslo, Lithuania, Copenhagen and Madrid.
- The participation by the SOGIGESC Unit in meetings of the Government LGBTI Focal Point Network and the Working Group of the Steering Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity, and Inclusion (CDADI) on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics (GT-ADI-SOGI) as well as the European Commissions LGBTI sub-group under the High Level Group on Non-Discrimination, Equality and Diversity.