Democracy House (DH) and Maldives Volunteers Corps (MVC) of Ministry of Human Resources, Youth and Sports; organized a one day workshop on ‘democracy and good governance’. The workshop was held in the seminar room of the Youth Center on 29th July 2010 from 9:30am to 4:30pm.  The participants of the workshop were registered volunteers of MVC who were fresh out of CHSE after the completion of A’ levels. Three sessions were conducted by prominent lawyers of Maldives on ‘three state powers’, ‘rights and responsibilities’ and ‘independent commissions and their mandates’.

The first session was conducted by UZ. Mohamed Fizan, an Attorney at law. The session outlined an introduction to separation of powers. The duties and responsibilities of the three powers and the concept of “check and balances” were highlighted through an interactive discussion.

After a tea break, UZ. Mazlan Rasheedh, a prominent lawyer, conducted the session on ‘Rights and Responsibilities’. The facilitator provided insight on international declarations and conventions entitling rights of people and a brief review on the rights guaranteed by the Maldivian Constitution. He widened his session to encompass the responsibilities which emanate from rights. A great emphasis was made on the importance of being active and responsible citizens while enshrining the aspects of tolerance and acceptance. The session was wrapped up, once again by questions from a very eager audience.

The last session was conducted by UZ. Mohamed Anil, (a prominent lawyer and the former Legal Reform Commissioner) on Independent Commissions and their Mandates. The facilitator lectured on how the independent Commissions came up, their legal setup and content. He highlighted their mandates and stressed on the importance of their their work.

Dr. Ibrahim Hassan, Country Scholarship Coordinator of South Asia Scholarship Program for Maldives, then conducted a session of open discussions where participants interacted on the past sessions. The participants enagaged in discussions on the messages noted from the day and expressed their views. All the facilitators joined in the final discussion session.

Ms. Aishath Nazhath, Director of Ministry of Human Resources, Youth and Sports; honored the closing ceremony and gave out certificates to participants on completion of the workshop. In her speech, she expressed gratitude to Non Governmental Organizations of Maldives for conducting such workshops to create awareness among the youth on important issues in society. She also said that the youth of the Maldives are now very much aware of the political scenario in the Maldives and such workshops would help them in working with the national interest at heart.