OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Kairat Abdrakhmanov visited Valletta on 7 February 2024 to discuss issues of mutual interest, in light of Malta's Chairpersonship of the OSCE.
The High Commissioner met with Ian Borg, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of Malta and OSCE Chair-in-Office (CiO), and the taskforce to express his support for Malta's priorities as CiO, share the plans of his institution and discuss key areas of co-operation on matters related to his mandate.
The High Commissioner also used this opportunity to meet with various interlocutors to learn about Malta's experience with diversity governance, particularly multilingualism in education and the media, with the aim to showcase positive examples throughout the OSCE region.
Towards this end, High Commissioner Abdrakhmanov met with Permanent Secretary in the Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation Ministry Matthew Vella to understand more about Malta's experiences and best practices related to delivering high-quality bilingual education for all. The HCNM promotes multilingual education as a way to promote integration in diverse societies.
Abdrakhmanov also met with Commissioner Renee Laiviera at the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) to hear how Malta approaches the inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities, data collection, anti-discrimination, and the intersection between climate policy and ethnicity. The HCNM is currently exploring the separate areas of data collection and climate change, as they pertain to national minority issues, in order to broaden his understanding of the subjects and how they relate to his mandate.
Finally, the High Commissioner took the opportunity to visit the Broadcasting Authority, where he met with Chief Executive Joanna Spiteri and Chairperson Frank Farrugia. Abdrakhmanov learned about Malta's long experience of consuming media in multiple languages, primarily Maltese, English and Italian.
