aditus foundation is a young, independent, voluntary, non-profit and non-governmental organization established in 2011 by a group of young lawyers dedicated to ensuring human rights access in Malta. aditus’ Director is Dr. Neil Falzon, and the current board is composed of Dr. Nicola Mallia (Chairperson), Dr. Michael Camilleri and Dr. Michael Ellul Sullivan.

Named for the Latin word meaning ‘access’, aditus foundation’s mission is the attentive analysis of access in Malta to human rights recognition and enjoyment. In practical terms, aditus was established to monitor, report and act on issues of fundamental human rights access for individuals and groups.

aditus foundation was founded on the principles of the universality, interdependence and indivisibility of all fundamental human rights, and we strive to promote their understanding and application. Being a generic human rights NGO, we work to adopt a broad perspective for human rights in Malta, identifying themes such as discrimination and access to effective remedies. Furthermore, while focused on Malta, we work towards highlighting the regional and international implications of local obstacles to human rights access.

Our main activities include the identification of priority areas, formulating advocacy strategies and working towards improvement in legal and administrative standards. This includes offering pro bono legal information and advice. We focus primarily on the government of Malta (through participation, for example, in a series of meetings with the Office of the Prime Minister on the subject of refugees). We do also address the EU institutions, the UN, the Council of Europe and other relevant agencies. We remain in constant communication and cooperation with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental entities to maintain a comprehensive approach in our activities.

aditus is committed to engaging the general public in a human rights discourse that is well informed, unbiased and effective, through press statements and television and radio appearances. Further, aditus makes full use of the Internet to disseminate information, raise public awareness, gather advocacy support and establish contact with individuals and networks. We have a comprehensive website and a busy Facebook page and Twitter account. aditus also blogs about the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) to provide updated information and commentary on its activities.

We firmly believe that professional research is a necessary advocacy tool and encourage its use by policy-makers in formulating national strategies and action plans. Accordingly, we prepare reports for various national, regional and international entities on the local human rights scenario, violations, law and administrative policy and practice. One example is Fleeing Homophobia: Seeking Safety, an EU-wide research project identifying best practices for LGBTI asylum cases and making EU-policy recommendations. Another important example is our collaboration with other Maltese NGOs to draft a report on LGBTI children, children with disabilities and migrant children in Malta, for submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

We organise training projects regularly, targeting a variety of actors. One such project is Our Voice, aimed at enhancing the integration of Malta’s refugee and migrant communities, to foster a sense of active social participation, support the creation of refugee and migrant networks and organizations and to develop strategies for funding future programmes.

A second training project is our Stakeholder Training Sessions, designed to give core information to those public and private service-providers that have direct and frequent contact with refugees. The project works to help identify the specific challenges, opportunities and best practices associated with their work. Lastly, we insist on striving to improve our own capacity to address lapses in human rights access: as part of that effort, we participate in training, workshops and conferences with local and international colleagues.

aditus is the Secretariat for the Platform of Human Rights Organisations in Malta (PHROM), Malta’s first and only national coalition of human rights NGOs.

Apart from being registered with the Malta Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, aditus has affiliations and memberships with the International Detention Coalition (IDC), the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and the Anna Lindh Foundation.

We are also members of the Consultative Forum of the European Asylum Support Office, and of the Fundamental Rights Platform of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.