A work plan has been launched to reform important aspects of the juvenile justice system of the Maldive, states UNICEF Representative to the Maldives, Mohamed El Munir A. Safieldin.
The UNICEF Representative revealed this while speaking on Talk Maldives Programme aired on PSM News, regarding UNICEFs work in Maldives.
UNICEF works with 10 different ministries, many agencies and departments within these ministries, said Safieldin while speaking on the programme. Social and legal protection of children is a key focus of their work in the Maldives, under which they work with not only different ministries, but also with the justice system, police, and different partners, to make sure children are protected from violence, drugs and abuse, he said.
"This is a very important area of the UNICEF work currently with the different authorities in the Maldives. As you know there is a need in every society to build a system of protecting children from violence, from abuse, from breaking the law. And we focus on building this system by bringing together the family the school, and the teachers and the community at large, and the social welfare system and all its components. The focus is always is to prevent any child to appear before a court, or a police, whether as a victim or offender of the law." the UNICEF Representative added.
UNICEF representative Safieldin also spoke about the Judicial Symposium on Child Rights and the Juvenile Justice System, which was held by Judicial Academy of the Maldives and UNICEF, on September 14th in Maldives.
A key focus of the symposium was for authorities to determine on how to further strengthen the judicial system and policies to ensure children do not come in contact with the law, either as victims or offenders, especially ensuring preventing juvenile offenders from going through the legal system that is designed for adults, he said. This is based on the principles of diverting young offenders and minors from going through the channels of the classic legal system into other channels where the focus would be on correcting their behavior and making sure not to punish them but to reform them and allow them another opportunity to be very productive good citizens, he further noted.
"So the focus was on the different legal elements and the outcome was the work plan for all of us. Different government entities, the UN, as well as the civil society organizations to work together to enhance the legal protection of young people. The work plan definitely covers a wide range of areas. It looks at the number one the institutions that are in place; how sufficient they are in terms of their number and do we need additional institutions to deal with juvenile offenders. And the capacity of the people who are working in these institutions. Do they have enough skills, and where are the gaps in their skills and how do we work together to enhance their skills." said Safieldin.
Work plan formulated during the symposium also focused on looking at looking at existing laws and regulation relating to juvenile offenders, discuss ways to further enhance these laws and determine if new laws and regulations are required to ensure every child is protected from violence from abuse, UNICEF Representative Safieldin said.
United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF was established in the Maldives in 1978, and has been successfully working towards assisting the Maldivian authorities for the betterment of children in our society for the past forty years.