Press Statement-8th February 2012

Democracy House condemns the Maldives security services for the use of excessive force at today’s demonstration held by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). We call upon the Maldives security services and all other relevant institutions to respect and protect the fundamental rights of all people. We urge the government and state institutions and other involved parties to uphold the rule of law and to work towards restoring peace and confidence in this critical time of transition. We also urge citizens not to harm courts, police posts and other public institutions in the form of revenge.

————————————

The new executive committee of Democracy House is as follows:

Chairman: Mohamed Anil

Vice Chairman: Mariyam Mohamed

General Secretary: Aishath Raniya

Treasurer: Hussein Wisaam

Committee Members: Dr.Simad Saeed, Hussein Nasheed,  Azhath Rushdy

To download, please click the following link:

DH brief on the current political events-final

Duration: 03 weeks

Exchange Schedule: May 2012

Youth Leadership Programs are designed to promote high-quality leadership, civic responsibility, and civic activism among our countries’ future leaders.  The exchanges offer a practical examination of the principles of democracy and civil society as practiced in the United States and provide participants with training that allows them to develop their leadership skills.  The program plan allows the participants to thoroughly explore civic education in the United States in a creative, memorable, and practical way, with activities that are designed to be replicable and provide practical knowledge and skills that the participants can apply to school and civic activities at home.  The participants will live with American families for the majority of the exchange period.  Multiple opportunities for participants to interact with American youth and educators will be included. For a detailed call for applications please click the following link.

Call for application

For application forms, please follow the links below.

Student application-final form

Teacher or Community Leader Application_Final Form

For further information regarding this, please email democracyhouse.mv@gmail.com or call us on (960)7414400.

The participants were taught a range of subjects including personal development, leadership skills, cultural awareness and civic education. Participants were also taught democratic principles and how democracy functions in the parliament through a series of parliamentary education sessions. The YLP also focuses on pressing issues in the society including child protection, gender inequality, conflict resolution, human rights and intolerance. The final component of the training included a model parliament session that was aired on the local television channel MNBC one.

The programme was conducted with assistance from Bandos Island Resort, The US Embassy in Colombo, UNDP, UNFPA, Peoples Majlis and Ministry of Human Resources Youth and Sports.

Call for Applications- YLP2011

Interested Applicants between 16-21 years of age should submit a completed application form, CV and copies of academic certificates and copy of ID card to one of the following;

Email-             democracyhouse.mv@gmail.com

Post Address: H.Magma, 3^rd Floor

Sikka Goalhi

Male’, Maldives

Fax: + (960) 3318338

The deadline for all applicants is 20^th October 2011, 4pm.

Application Forms:

Application Form-english

Application Form-dhivehi

For more information please call our hotline 741-4400!

The training was targeted at training and empowering women candidates who ran for the first ever local council election that was held on 5th February 2011. A total of 96 women from 20 atolls were trained under the programme.  Candidates endorsed by political parties as well as independent candidates took part in the training. The programme was divided into 3 batches. An average of 30 participants were chosen for each batch. The first batch of training was conducted from 19th December 2010 to 21st December 2010. Second training was held from 28th December 2010-30th December 2010. The third and final batch of training was held from 8th January 2011 to 10th January 2011.

The training programme was conducted with assistance from Bandos Island Resort, Canadian International Development Agency(CIDA), United Nations Development Programme(UNDP and Human Rights Commission of the Maldives(HRCM).

A total of 57 women council members were elected throughout the country and 46% of the elected women council members were participants of the women empowerment training programme!

The thirty seven participants of the program were selected on a competitive basis; they were identified as outgoing and outspoken young people in their communities. The participants of the program were accommodated in “Atholhu Vehi”, an accommodation facility in the Bandos Island Resort and Spa designed to conduct similar trainings.

An  inauguration ceremony was held to welcome the participants of the  Youth Leadership Program 2010 o and was honored by the former speaker of the parliament, Mr, Ahmed Zahir. In the Inauguration ceremony, the managing director of Bandos Island Resort and Spa, in his speech, highlighted that, special importance will always be given to educate and train Maldivian youth, to establish real democracy and create potential young leaders for positive change in the society. He called upon youth to be courageous in their fight against the rights of the people they represent.

The trainings of YLP 2010 were designed to engage the participants in a  series of civic education sessions and field visits to different institutions. Sessions on “Leadership” . were conducted by a number of experienced facilitators. During these sessions participants were encouraged to think aloud and express their views through exercises such as group works and role plays.

Facilitators from the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives ,  Elections Commission of the Maldives and Anti-Corruption Commission of the Maldives visited the camp of YLP 2010 to deliver information sessions from their respective fields.

Participants of the program visited the Criminal court, High Court and Supreme Court of the Maldives to learn about the Judicial System. In one of their visits, they met with the Chief of Justice.

In order to familiarize them with the work in the corporate sector, the participants completed a day tour to Thilafushi Island known as an Industrial Zone of Maldives.  A tour in Bandos Island Resort and spa was also organized for the participants.

The participants of the program also visited the UN building. This visit briefed them about the work of UN in Maldives to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and interact with the senior representatives of UN.

The Chief Commissioner of Maldives Police Service welcomed the young parliamentarians as they visited the Command Centre of Maldives Police Service. They attended information sessions on their forensic capacity and technological infrastructure. They also visited the detention centre in Dhoonidhoo island.

The participants were also invited to stay in the training base of the Maldives National Defense Force in Girifushi Island with the Army. During this stay, participants got the chance to experience some of the physical trainings and exercises. They spent very exciting and enjoyable  two days in a different atmosphere, yet learning a lot about team building, leadership and patriotism.

When most of the field visits and civic education sessions were conducted during the day,  Parliamentary Education sessions were also conducted during the evenings .Experienced facilitators from the previous Youth Parliament Initiatives  visited the camp, every evening to guide and coach the participants on parliamentary procedures and educate them participants on how to take part in informed debate.

The participants of the program visited the People’s Majilis for an observation session while a parliament session was in progress.In one of the visits, The participants were also invited to meet the Speaker of the Parliament.

A brainstorming session among the participants were facilitated  to identify the major issues faced by youth today and it was concluded that Drug Abuse is  becoming and increasingly intense and a severe concern in our society. Hence, Drugs Bill was chosen to be discussed for the mock parliament session.Stakeholders from different institutions were organized to address the issue from different perspectives.  Parliamentarians, Custom Officers, NGO’s were invited to conduct information sessionsThe participants tirelessly gathered information and structured their speeches for the recording date of the Mock Parliament Session.

When the Youth Leadership Program 2010 was taking place, it co-incided with the visit of of two legislators from the US State of Oregon. State Senator Jackie Dingfelder and State Representative Ben Cannon visited the camp of YLP 2010 to meet the youth parliamentarians and conduct a question and answer session.

The Secretary General of the CommonWealth Local Government Forum Mr. Carl Wright also visited the camp of YLP 2010. He conducted an information session on the importance of implementing the local governance principles in the country.

To divert their attention from the hectic schedule of the program, leisure activities were organized. This helped in strengthening the strong bond and team spirit that was present amongst the participants. It  provided for a fun and enjoyable  atmosphere of learning with their peer.

Finally on 17th December 2010, a mock parliament session was recorded with the participants speaking out on the issue of drug abuse in the country and raising their concerns, at the same time, demonstrating how parliamentarians engage in debate. The session was recorded by the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation and aired on 22nd December 2010, known as the Constitution Day of Maldives.

A closing ceremony was hosted on 18th December 2010 to bid a farewell to the participants of the program honored by the Minister of Human Resources, Youth and Sports, Uz, Hassan Latheef. A documentary based on the three weeks of the Youth Leadership Program 2010 was viewed in the closing ceremony to give a snapshot of the whole Youth Leadership Program 2010 for the invitees. The participants of the program also presented a “goodbye and a thank you” song to the organizers of YLP2010.

Farewell Song

The event brought together eight experienced visual artists who painted an individual segment that contributed to a grand painting with a common line running through the paintings. It was emphasizing on the importance of unity and was intended to deliver the theme of the day;

“Political Accountability: Strengthening links between the parliament and the citizens”. The Artists were painting on the spot at ‘Raalhugandu’ – surf spot in Male from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

It provided for  an enjoyable evening for the general public  in a creatively stimulating atmosphere and gather to support democracy and rule of law, as well as show respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country.

While the evening was in progress, a creative expression board was installed on the site to paste and express thoughts about the day. A Kids corner was setup with a volunteer group of pre-school teachers assisting the kids who took part in the event to draw pictures.

In the evening, the grand picture was combined and displayed on the spot. When the painting was on display, live band and traditional bands performed music celebrating the day’s engagements.

The consultation was intended to start the process to catalyze further policy dialogue between the UN and civil society at the regional and national levels on issues of particular concern. A need was felt for articulating a new perspective on multilateralism with the twin tasks of furthering ‘citizen-centric’ multilateralism and providing new meanings to human development.

After an opening session of analysis and overview of the political and development contexts in Asia-Pacific, each theme was taken up in detail, concluding with three parallel working group discussions about strategies for UN-civil society co-convening and a presentation of recommendations.

As the first such interaction between the UNDP APRC and diverse society from across the region, this was a unique dialogue which generated much interest and expectations on both sides.