Two members from Huvadhoo Aid participated in three day training workshop titled “Consolidating Democracy and Human Rights through Empowerment of Civil Society” from the 27th to the 29th of September, conducted by Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) in collaboration with the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) .
At the opening ceremony, two publications by MDN; the second edition of “Asaasee Hagguthakaai Minivankan” (“Basic Rights and Freedoms”) and the 2010 Maldives report to the Asian NGOs Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) entitled ‘Needing to Scale the Communication Barrier’ was launched by the UN’s Special Advisor on Social Cohesion and Governance Mr. Ferdinand Von Habsburg.
The participants of the workshop were provided with an overview of the national mechanism on democracy and human rights including the National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) as well as the UN Mechanism and their role in defending democracy and human rights. The participants also took part in developing a strategy to contribute in consolidation of democracy and human rights in the Maldives. The interactive training drew out numerous issues of concern to those working in the human rights field in the Maldives and provided an opportunity for participants to share their thoughts on how challenges could be overcome and to also share success stories from the field.
The workshop was attended by MDNs atoll based Human Rights Defenders (HRDs), local Human Rights NGOs, Staff from the Police Integrity Commission and staff from the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives.