Interagency collaboration? : a case study on the national policy on the rights of persons with disability

Abstract

This dissertation analyses whether interagency collaboration was applied in the process of the formulation of the National Policy on the Rights of Persons with Disability. It explores where this policy originated from, who was involved and who has ownership, whose and what interests were addressed and what pressures and pressure groups were at play. A qualitative methodology was used for this research, specifically interviews and document analyses of public reports and policy documents. In the interviews conducted, the interviewees had similar ideas of what they understood by interagency collaboration. However, when asked whether interagency collaboration is being put into practice in Maltese policymaking, only two interviewees were convinced that this happens. On the other hand, all the representatives agreed that interagency collaboration presents more advantages than disadvantages. Furthermore, there was agreement that interagency collaboration should begin at the top tiers of agencies and then continue at the lower levels. In contrast to this, not all interviewees agreed at what stage in policymaking, interagency collaboration should start. The interviewees also mentioned factors that can favour or hinder interagency collaboration. Finally, implementation of this Policy was discussed. After corroborating the findings from the interviews with a document analysis, it emerged that interagency collaboration was more present in the process of formulating the Initial Report submitted by Malta under article 35 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities (CRPD) on its implementation, rather than the National Policy on the Rights of Persons with Disability and the consultative document that preceded it.