The EQUAL Programme is a Community Initiative funded by the European Social Fund.

EQUAL forms part of the European Union's strategy for more and better jobs, aiming to ensure that everyone is given the right opportunities to contribute to the labour force.

EQUAL aims to promote a better model for working life by fighting discrimination and exclusion on the basis of gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

EQUAL co-finances activities in all EU Member States, emphasizing innovation and active cooperation between Member States.

Projects funded by EQUAL fall within four main Thematic Priorities:

1. EMPLOYABILITY: Facilitating access and return to the labour market for those who have difficulty in being integrated or re integrated into a labour market which must be open to all;
2. ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Opening up the business creation process to all, providing the tools required for setting up business and for the identification and exploitation of new possibilities for creating employment;
3. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: Reconciling family and professional life, as well as the re integration of men and women who have left the labour market, by developing more flexible and effective forms of work organisation and support services; and
4. ASYLUM SEEKERS: Supporting the social and vocational integration of Asylum Seekers with status.

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Calls and the Project Selection Process

The Project Selection Process for the EQUAL Programme is outlined in the EQUAL Programme Complement, which can be downloaded here.  There are no open calls at present.

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Contacts

• The Planning and Priorities Coordination Division is the Managing Authority for EQUAL in Malta.
• The Ministry for Social Policy (MSOC) - formerly known as the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity (MFSS) - is the National Support Structure for EQUAL in Malta.

Key documents, downloads and further information

• Information on Equal Projects.
• The European Commission's EQUAL website.