UNODC supports the Government of Maldives in its ongoing juvenile justice reform through tailored workshops on children in conflict with the law

Working in close cooperation with the Department of Juvenile Justice, Ministry of Home Affairs, UNODC conducted a comprehensive Technical Assistance Needs Assessment which provided the basis for the provision of tailored technical assistance in this area in 2020.

After a successful multi-disciplinary Training of Trainers on Juvenile Justice conducted in August 2021, UNODC and the Government of Maldives continued to work together to identify priority areas of intervention that would further support practitioners in their efforts to apply child-sensitive approaches to juvenile justice in Maldives.

UNODC has also worked closely together with the Department of Juvenile Justice since 2021 on ways to strengthen existing referral mechanisms, to collect and gather information, to analyze the data and build a database on data collected during the child assessment, as well as on how to draw conclusions and write assessment reports.

After a first workshop delivered in 2021, the advanced workshop conducted on 26-27 June 2022 in Male built on the achievements of the first training event, targeting specifically 13 juvenile justice officers who conduct child assessments, including as per the Juvenile Justice Act of the Republic of Maldives.

To further support the Government in its comprehensive juvenile justice reform and, more specifically, the implementation of diversion for children in conflict with the law, UNODC, in preparation of the workshop conducted in June, began a series of virtual consultations with national counterparts to better understand issues encountered by practitioners in the implementation of alternatives to judicial proceedings in 2021.

The multi-disciplinary workshop conducted on 28-30 June 2022 brought together 30 participants from six institutions working in the area of diversion, including Maldives Police Service; Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services; Juvenile Court; Ministry of Education; Department of Juvenile Justice, Ministry of Home Affairs; Prosecutor General’s Office, fostering cooperation and coordination for the effective implementation of diversion and restorative justice approaches. This provided an opportunity for stakeholders to exchange experiences, share solutions and good practices and address issues related to multi-sectoral coordination and cooperation to better assist children in conflict with the law.