Tag: maldives news

UNICEF allocates US$1.72 million to promotion of child rights

UNICEF and its partners have allocated US$1.72 million to promote the rights of children in the Maldives, under the new UNICEF Maldives Country Programme 2011-2015.

In a statement, UNICEF said that activities identified in the 2011 plan include improving the legislative framework for child rights, strengthening the evidence base for policy planning, and improve capacity of government to deliver improved quality health care and water and sanitation services.

Support will also be provided to ensure enhanced national capacity to deliver inclusive and child friendly education, and to scale up services to protect the most vulnerable children and women from violence. UNICEF will also partner with civil society organizations and the media to enhance their capacity for active monitoring and reporting on children’s issues.

Partners for the implementation of the 2011 Annual Work Plan include the Juvenile Justice Unit of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family, Department of National Planning of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, Ministry of Housing and Environment, Ministry of Education, Maldives Police Services, Human Rights Commission of the Maldives and the Maldives Media Council.

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Indian artists to join Maldivian cultural camp

A host of Indian artists are expected to take part in an international arts camp being held in Addu Atoll from 9 March till 22 March – the first event of its kind said to be held in the country, according to the United Artists of Maldives (UAM).

Speaking to Haveeru, the UAM confirmed that Chaman Sharma, Sadhana Sangar, Gurdheep Singh Dhiman, Saurabh Narang and Hemali Bhutta will be taking part in next month’s art event that is hoped can become an annual fixture for the country and help boost the overall profile of a national cultural identity.

UAM has claimed that it hopes to try and promote Maldivian art at both a local and international level by planning to host the camp at various islands around the Maldives in the future, as well as sending its own members to cultural events in other countries.

“This will be a kind of exchange. After we do the camp here, some of the participants from Maldives will go to India and then do a camp there,” Ahmed Naeem, UAM member and Exhibition and Project Officer at the National Art Gallery told Haveeru. “We [UAM] have mainly three things which we are concentrating on; to promote artists and their work, to create awareness among the public about visual art and to foster a good understanding between neighbouring countries and their culture.”

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Child protection conference ongoing at Bandos

The Ministry of Health’s Department of Gender and Family is hosting the National Conference on Working Together for the Protection of Children, over two days at Bandos Island Resort and Spa.

Speaking at the opening of the two-day conference yesterday, President Mohamed Nasheed expressed concern over rising incidences of sexual, physical and psychological violence against children in the Maldives.

Visits to islands and report from government departments, UN Agencies and NGOs revealed “a bleak picture of violence against children,” Nasheed said.

He emphasised the benefits of providing immediate assistance directly to children at risk, over spending money to set up systems and infrastructure to work for the protection of children.

Also speaking at the opening of the conference yesterday, UNICEF representative Bertrand Mendis noted a shift in societal attitudes towards cases of child abuse, and that more civil society organisations were being formed and that the media was reporting more on cases of violence against children.

He also referred to a survey conducted in the Maldives in 2008, showing that 26 percent of children have been psychologically abused and 14 percent of children physically abused. Eight percent of children have been abused by the teachers.

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Letter on airport cronyism

When I arrived today (February 16, 2011) at the GRM Male’ International Airport on flight IC 966, I saw Mr Hareef wearing a ‘Customer Service’ uniform and it was the first time I saw such a high level staff at the apron to welcome the arrivals. I took it as a positive sign and as a proof of GMR’s commitment to improve customer service at the airport.

From the flight we went direct to the Immigration Counter. When the Immigration Officer signaled for our turn, Mr Hareef intervened and handed over five Maldivian passports to him. He instructed not to take our passports but to process passports of his friends who were behind the queue. Those friends included Mr Ilyas Ibrahim, a man who has squeezed Maldivian blood for 30 years.

When the airport was handed over to the GMR, we celebrated it with great pride because it was the day airport got ‘freedom’ from the cronies and thugs of the 30-year dictatorship. As you may be aware, Mr Ilyas is the brother in-law of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, one of the world’s most brutal dictators and Ilyas’s influence at the airport is a proof that our beloved airport is still not free from the cronies of the dictator.

Ilyas’ close ally Hareef is an official who played a key role in deals at the Male’ international airport during Gayoom’s 30-year rule. It is a shame on GMR to employ such thugs and destroy the reputation of our international airport.

As a customer I expect you to take appropriate action against Hareef because discrimination is a crime in our constitution and he continues to practice his power similar to the years of the dictator.

-GMR Customer

All letters are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write a letter, please submit it to [email protected]

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Former senior US officials admit Iraqi WMD source was unreliable

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell has lashed out at the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Pentagon’s Defence Intelliegence Agency, for failing to inform him that a key source behind the decision to go to war in Iraq was unreliable.

Iraqi defector Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, known as ‘Curveball’ to his western handlers, has admitted fabricating evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, al-Janabi said he saw the fabricated evidence as a chance to get rid of Saddam Hussein.

“I wanted to get rid of him and now I had this chance,” he said. “I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime. I and my sons are proud of that.”

“Saddam did not (allow) freedom in our land. There are no other political parties. You have to believe what Saddam says, and do what Saddam wants. And I don’t accept that. I have to do something for my country. So I did this and I am satisfied, because there is no dictator in Iraq any more.”

Powell told British media this week that it had been known for several years that al-Janabi was unreliable.

“The question should be put to the CIA and the DIA as to why this wasn’t known before the false information was put into the NIE sent to Congress, the president’s state of the union address and my February 5 presentation to the UN,” he said.

Former Head of the CIA, George Tenet, put out a statement on his website acknowledging that “the handling of this matter is certainly a textbook case of how not to deal with defector provided material. But the latest reporting of the subject repeats and amplifies a great deal of misinformation.”

Tenet claims he only became aware of al-Janabi two years after the invasion, and by then it was “too late to do a damn thing about it.”

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Government opens office in Addu

President Mohamed Nasheed yesterday inaugurated the government’s South Province Office in Addu City.

During the ceremony to open the office, which will be the government’s administrative and representative office in the atoll, Nasheed said that the government expected to complete all development projects already planned for the city by the end of its term.

He also said the government would seek to increase the GDP of the new city from Rf 2 billion (US$135 million) to Rf 4 billion (US$270 million).

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Maldives to host Asian football tournament qualifiers

The Maldives is to begin hosting qualifying matches for the AFC challenge Cup 2012 football tournament as of next month that will see teams from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Macau and Cambodia compete in the country for a spot in the 2015 Asian Cup.

Ali Azim, president of the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) told Haveeru that the country had been chosen to host the group C matches between itself, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and the victor of a playoff contested between Macau and Cambodia.

The paper reported that the Maldives has previously hosted similar qualifying matches back in 2009, ahead of the 2010 challenge cup.

However, the country finished in second place behind Turkmenistan during qualifying; losing out to Bangladesh, which qualified to the tournament as the group runner up with the highest goal difference.

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International Commission of Jurists raises courts concerns ahead of Maldives report launch

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has told Minivan News that it has serious concerns over the structure and operations of the Maldives judiciary, which are set to be outlined in the findings of a “comprehensive” new report to be released next week.

Roger Normand, director of the ICJ’s Asia Pacific operations said that although he could not reveal specific details of the report ahead of its publication on Monday, a number issues will be raised by the NGO concerning the independence of the Maldives judiciary, as well as the conduct of the government during last year’s constitutional “crisis” over the legitimacy of judges in the country.

The comments were made as institutions such as the country’s High Court are said to effectively be on “hiatus” due to ongoing legal disputes involving the appointment of a bench to oversee its cases – a trial that is currently awaiting a final decision by the country’s Supreme Court .

The appointments issue was initially raised in Civil Court by Criminal Court Judge Abdul Baary over claims that the appointment procedures of the local watchdog body, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), were unjust.

Eventually the Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Court did not have the mandate to rule on appointments of a higher authority such as the High Court and that it should therefore have the final say on such a constitutional matter.

In this environment of judicial uncertainty, High Court Chief Judge Abdul Ghani Mohamed told Miadhu today that the issue of completing the bench was a huge challenge for the institution.

However, he claimed that various parties were working on a solution to ensure human rights were not being lost out on due to concerns that the court was “now almost on hiatus” due to the ongoing appointments case.

Forward looking report

Although not wishing to discuss any specifics ahead of the publication of the ICJ report, Normand said that the findings could be expected to detail a number of issues claimed to be specifically at odds with judicial structure and general practice designed to ensure greater transparency in line with the independence of certain courts in Europe and Asia.

“[The findings] are going to be part of a forward looking report for the country, given that you can’t have democracy without strong judiciary,” he said. “It’s essential for all political parties to work towards strengthening an independent judiciary under the framework of the Supreme Court.”

The report’s findings could prove hugely significant for groups such as the JSC that has faced criticism in recent months over their transparency.

The attacks are perhaps more significant in that they come from one of the JSC’s own members in the form of Aishath Velezinee, who now faces internal disciplinary action for her work in leaking details of their operations.

Velezinee, an outspoken critic of the JSC’s refusal to adopt a Standards of Procedure as required by the Constitution, earlier this month accused several fellow members of corruption and treason.

She has published a large cache of JSC documents, including audio recordings of Commission meetings, on her personal website as evidence, she says, to support her accusations.

The JSC last month appointed a special three-member team to decide on the best course of action against JSC member Aishath Velezinee for removing official documents from the Commission’s premises.

The JSC, which is yet to adopt a Standards of Procedure a year after the 26 January 2010 deadline, earlier this month, passed new secrecy regulations that make it an offence for members to reveal any Commission business to the public without prior authorisation.

A number of JSC members contacted by Minivan News were not available for a response at the time of going to press.

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DQP and DRP unveils coalition councillors training programmes

The Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) led by Dr Hassan Saeed has said that it will work with the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), led by MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to establish an action plan after a coalition agreement was signed between both parties.

The DQP said it hopes to initially target training schemes for both its own and DRP councillors elected during local council elections held earlier this month on how to conduct their roles.

”The objective of these activities is to make councillors capable and talented persons who can be examples in how to serve their fellow citizens,” said the DQP in a statement.

”Activities targeted on training the councillors will commence very soon.”

The party said it will also try to teach councillors on how to make the government more accountable.
“During the activities they [councillors] will be taught the role of Local Councils and Decentralization,” said the DQP. ”They will be trained to learn what citizens needs and how to work according to the pulse of the [public].”

The DQP claimed that experienced politicians from the DRP will also provide lectures during these activities.

On 8 February, the DRP held a council meeting – with party members reportedly belonging to factions supporting dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer allegdly absent – where they decided to sign a coalition agreement with the DQP. The agreement sae both parties pledging cooperation to each other during the 2013 presidential election as well as parliamentary and local council elections scheduled to be held in 2014.

During this month’s local council elections, a majority seats of island seats were won by the DRP, although the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) claimed most of the seats in municipal areas such as Addu and Male’.

MDP has raised concerns that there were serious issues related to polling reports received by the party and has requested the Elections Commission to hold the elections in some areas for a second time. The governing party has also alleged that the Elections Commission were one sided in their conduct and that the council elections were unfair.

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