BACKGROUND:

The Practice Parliament series is a project conducted by UNDP Maldives in partnership with People’s Majlis of the Maldives, with the support of the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The series consists of two components: Practice Parliament for Youth and Practice Parliament for Women and aims to provide the opportunity for women and young people to build their capacity and confidence to participate in democratic processes, become change makers in their communities and eventually, contest for elected positions.

The Practice Parliament for Women hopes to enable women to be more involved in the decision-making processes in the country by increasing capacity development and training programmes for women active in the political arena to build their skills and knowledge to contest for elected positions.

Practice Parliament builds on the concept of experiential learning to provide the opportunity for aspiring individuals to learn by doing, build new network and allies through shared understanding, engage in dialogue with other individuals of the same cohort to further inform their values and perspectives, and enable them to acquire new skills at a practical setting.

The objective of Practice Parliaments is to enable participants to:

-          Identify the nuances in each policy issue, and guide how they need to manoeuvre within the complex political space to achieve a key facet in any democracy consensus.

-          Strengthen understanding of parliamentary processes to demystify the parliament and boost the confidence women and young people to contest for parliament.

-          Enhance knowledge on key policy issues to improve their ability to become effective change makers and legislators.

The Practice Parliament series will consist of two components; a training component where participants are informed on the fundamentals of civic education, key parliamentary processes, and relevant policy issues, followed by a Practice Parliament Sitting where they perform parliamentary proceedings.

WHO:

All Maldivian women aged above 25 years and currently living in the Maldives are eligible to apply for the Practice Parliament for Women. All applicants must be able to fully commit to the full duration of the event (however flexibility will be given to those who require it to ensure that as many women as possible are able to join).

Slots will be reserved for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) for the event and all participants are required to list down whether they have any additional requirements such as a translator, helper or sign language interpreter who can assist them. Special considerations and assistance will be provided to such individuals throughout the event.

WHAT:

Call for applications are now open for Practice Parliament for Women. The deadline for submission of applications is 29^th November 2021.

WHEN:

The Practice Parliament for Women will be held from 12^th to 15^th December 2021.

WHERE:

The Practice Parliament for Women will be held in Male’.

SELECTION PROCESS:

Women interested in applying for the Practice Parliament will send their details to the designated contact number to express their interest. Interest and willingness to commit and participate in the Practice Parliament as well as any previous experience in political parties, Women’s Development Committees, NGOs, or community activities will be considered during the evaluation process. A pre-screening of all applicants will be done to ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria. Phone interviews will then be held with eligible applicants and scored against the selection criteria. The top 40 scorers will then be selected to join the event.

Eligibility Criteria:

·         Maldivian woman

·         Aged above 25

·         Living in the Maldives

·         Able to commit to the full duration of the event (however flexibility will be given to those who require it to ensure as many women are able to join).

Interested applicants can send their details to:

UNDP Maldives | 9886929

To register, please send a text message with Full Name, Island of Residence and National ID Card Number.

Media Advisory in Dhivehi

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CONTACT:

UNDP Maldives | aminath.ibrahim@undp.org

UNDP Maldives | junaina.faisal@undp.org