On the 22^nd of October Mr. Mohamed Ahmed, vice-chairperson of Naifaru Juvenile signed a contract with the Ministry of Environment and Energy to conduct community training services in selected island communities in the north region. The project is part of the Maldives Environmental Management Project (MEMP) which receives funding from the World Bank.

The project is set to run for four months and the goal is to train local facilitators and conduct awareness-building in the local community on environmental issues. The Ministry has allocated MVR 771,000.00 to the implementation of the project.

Background:

The Maldives increasing socio-economic challenges such as infrastructure problems and underdevelopment in remote areas as well as the growing threat of global climate change has fuelled a growing focus on environmental training services as necessary to create a nation-wide response. Moreover, with the underrepresentation of women in significant positions in society and their lack of access to certain jobs and political offices calls for an increased focus on this issue.

Implementation:

Implementation will follow overall strategy based on previous experience of best practises from internationally renowned NGO, Live & Learn and the World Bank South Ari Atoll Waste Management Project and the MEMP. This is to ensure maximum impact and sustainability in the local community.

The implementation will focus on:

–          Capacity building activities

–          Local context – recognising local complexities

–          Cooperation between local training efforts and national priorities

–          Capacity building through the use of participatory techniques

–          Room for flexibility in training offers to accommodate local priorities

The implementation will follow these four core principles:

1. Understanding the level of knowledge in the community

2. Basing training on participatory principles

3. Taking an integrated approach

4. Making evaluation meaningful to local community