The role of cross-sector collaboration in strengthening Malta’s national drug policy

Abstract

In today's globalised world the complexity of the public policy problems is causing the public administration to move beyond its boundaries to engage in Cross-Sector Collaboration (CSC). This Constitutes a predominant feature in the public policy lexicon to deal with wicked problems, yet it is not fully explored and very difficult to establish.

This study draws on a holistic account on the current state of CSC by materialising it with Malta's National Drug Policy. It primarily deploys the endured benefits and challenges that influence the process of CSC. The study than directs its focus on the organisational environment that should be cultivated in Malta's National Drug Policy to optimise the benefits and mitigate the challenges.

The study presents the qualitative methods employed. The primary data was collected through 11 semi-structured interviews conducted with important figures in Malta's Drug Policy from the public and non-profit sector. The other methodology, namely the document analysis took into consideration Malta's only National Drug Policy and all the published National Reports from 2004 to date. The secondary at a collected was analysed thematically.

The study aimed to investigate the current situation of CSC in Malta’s National Drug policy field. It sought to comprehend the current status of CSC, by placing particular attention to the apparent or experienced benefits and challenges the different stakeholders in this field actually foresee or encountered.

The results evidently indicate that the notion of CSC in Malta’s National Drug Policy is still in its infancy, in fact the data analysis clearly indicate that the challenges outweigh the benefits. Such data suggest that a way forward would be establish a network for the drug policy in Malta. One should not underestimate the complexity of managing the CSC initiatives.