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The second series of Practice Parliament for Women has culminated with 32 participants, including 2 Persons With Disabilities from across the Maldives. The opening ceremony was attended by Member of Parliament Rozaina Adam, Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives H.E. Paul Stephens and UNDP Maldives’ Resident Representative Enrico Gaveglia.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Enrico Gaveglia stated that no society can reach its full potential without the participation of its women in decision-making. “Yet, it is 2022, and women aspiring for, and in politics continue to face stigma and structural, socioeconomic, institutional and cultural barriers. Women’s empowerment and gender equality are crucial to building resilient, forward-thinking societies,” he said.
Parliament Member Rozaina Adam stressed upon the starkly limited representation of women voices in the Parliament. She also highlighted that while more than half of the population of the country are female, when legislations that have huge impacts on the female population are being drafted and passed, there is no one in those critical parliamentary committees who will represent women.
Honourable Speaker of the Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed took sessions at the Practice Parliament series, including the series for Women on a ‘Historical overview of the Maldivian Political System and the People’s Majlis’.
At the opening ceremony, Australian High Commissioner Paul Stephens highlighted Australia's long-time support to the Practice Parliament series with the People’s Majlis and UNDP Maldives, and reiterated Australia's continued support to Maldives' governance and reform agenda.
“Throughout this workshop, we hope you will further develop the skills to aspire to and work to create a society you and every part of your community, from the largest to the smallest islands, deserves,” High Commissioner Paul Stephens said.
The first day of Practice Parliament for Women included sessions on democracy and good governance by UNDP, with Society for Health Education (SHE) covering gender-related issues in the Maldives for the participants.
The participants also had a chance to observe committee works, conduct a Q&A with women parliamentary members, had discussions on parliamentary roles and constituencies, and had sessions on the Gender Equality Action Plan; Decentralization; Impact of Corruption on Women; Right to Information and Social Cohesion and Policy Issues by UNDP.
The sessions were concluded with a debate on a bill discussion on suggestions and proposals for an amendment to the Family Law Act, including preparing talking points and running a trial in preparation.
The Practice Parliament series are organized by the People’s Majlis, in collaboration with UNDP, supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
