UPDATE ON SMALL ISLANDS VOICE ACTIVITIES IN THE MALDIVES MARCH 2003

The Small Islands Voice (SIV) project activities were initiated in the Maldives on the 15th of June 2003. The following is a summary of activities which have been conducted since inception.

Small Islands Voice Committee at B. Eydhafushi.

An SIV committee was established on the B. Eydhafushi on the 2nd July 2003. The main purpose of the committee is to discuss and organize activities on current environment, development and social issues. The first meeting was held on 1st July 2003 at Baa Atoll Education Centre (BAEC). Out of the 15 members of the committee, 14 attended. The project objectives, activities and the work of the committee were discussed at the meeting, followed by members' discussions on some of the current issues and problems faced by the island community. (The full list of the Small Islands Voice committee is at the end of this document)

On 11th February 2004 a meeting with the SIV committee at B. Eydhafushi was held in order to identify an activity to be conducted under SIV. As the main issue on the island was waste management, the island committee was keen on building a waste dump site on the island, and they had prepared an outline and a cost estimate for the site. But after consultation with the Ministry of Environment, the idea was changed. The Environment Ministry felt that the proposal for the dump site was not appropriate for the island. So they suggested first of all conducting a waste characterization survey for the island. The students of the island school will be conducting the survey on their homes and on the island reef and lagoon. The detail of this survey is being prepared with the assistance of the Environment Ministry.

Conducting a poster competition on destructive fishing practices and marine pollution was also raised in the SIV committee meeting. This competition was scheduled for the school holidays, 16th to 24th April, for the three schools.

Opinion Survey

An opinion survey for 10% of the population of B.Eydhafushi was conducted in order to acquire public views on development, environment and social issues and concerns. The survey was conducted from 1st - 3rd of July 2003. A survey form consisting of 30 open-ended questions was used to conduct individual interviews. Supporting information and group views were obtained from a focus group meeting of a representative group from the island community.

About 19 senior students from the Baa Atoll Education Centre participated as enumerators in the survey. These students were selected by the school administration. Enumerators were briefed on the purpose and the objectives of the survey and taken through the survey process, methodology and survey form step by step. The students quickly grasped the survey methodology, most having undertaken similar work with school projects. Enumerators worked in pairs, with each pair interviewing fifteen persons of varied social background, gender and age. The project coordinator and assistant worked randomly with different pairs in order to gauge differences between enumerator groups. Time was spent with each pair prior to their first interview in order to ensure grasp of survey methodology and their confidence in undertaking the interviews.

In general, the survey was well received and people were willing to discuss their concerns on the issues raised.

The survey forms were analyzed and a report has been prepared. A translation of the survey report in Dhivehi language (the language of Maldives) is also being prepared and will be sent to the SIV committee at B. Eydhafushi in order to discuss and prioritize the issue for conducting on-ground activities.

Promoting participation in the SIV Internet Youth Forum by school groups

Two computers and a printer with tables and chairs have been delivered to all three participating schools. As all the schools had an internet connections, they made arrangements for the students to use the internet in order to post their articles and respond to the SIV internet youth forum. One article from Baa Atoll Education Centre has been posted on the youth forum and is on the track. Schools have selected some students for sending articles and responding to articles being posted on the forum.

Seychelles and Maldives student exchange visit.

An exchange trip was organized between the Praslin Secondary School and the Madhrasathul Ahmadiyya of Maldives from 04th to 12th January 2004. This visit was initiated by Ms. Farida Camille from the Praslin Secondary School. As the opportunity was offered to the SIV schools of Maldives, Madhrasathul Ahmadhiyya responded for hosting and organizing the exchange trip.

This aim of this trip was to allow the students to get information and experience the life style of the Maldives, and to exchange the culture and ideas among Seychellois with the Maldivian students. Five students and a teacher from the Praslin Secondary School and 7 students from Madharsathul Amadiyya actively participated in the exchange visit.

Field trips to nearby islands of Maldives were organized. The table below shows the detailed activity schedule of the trip.

A two day workshop was held in Male' from 5th to 6th of March 2004 to coincide with the Seychelles exchange visit to the Maldives. It was to discuss, identify different environmental problems in Maldives and Seychelles, and also to identify the cause, effect and different solutions for the identified problems. The workshop was conducted in four sessions. The first session was an introductory session with a warm-up session to get to know each other. Later the students discussed in groups about the main problems they face and prioritized the issues. The groups prepared a problem tree on the top issue that they had prioritized, which was a way of identifying cause and effects. The groups were facilitated by the officials from the Ministry of Fisheries, Agriculture and Marine Resources and Marine Research Centre. The groups presented their report on the final session and an Environmental Specialist from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Environment joined in the final session and answered the questions raised from the groups.

Twenty four students from all three schools participating in the SIV activities in Maldives and six other secondary schools of Male' participated in the workshop.

SMALL ISLAND VOICE COMMITTEE - 2004 (BAA. EYDHAFUSHI)