National Awards for Public Service to be conferred at National Unity Day reception on Sunday.
The President’s Office revealed that the National Unity Day reception will be held at the Republic Square on Sunday at 8:30pm.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is scheduled to deliver an address.
The National Award for Public Service mirrors the prestigious National Award of Honor and is presented to those who have served for the nation for over 35 years and this is the first time it is being conferred.
The ‘National Award for Public Service’ recognizes the different achievements of nominees and the quality of their work as well as contributions towards the development of their respective fields will be taken into consideration. Similar to the “National Award of Honor”, it also recognizes the individual achievements of nominees.
The new award was introduced by President Solih during a meeting with his Cabinet of Ministers on February 23, with the intention of recognizing and awarding those who have contributed significantly to the public sector.
The government in September announced the decision to confer this year’s National Awards for Public Service on two separate occasions after deliberations with the National Awards Committee as the president did not find it reasonable for the awards to be conferred to so many recipients at the same time. With this the decision was reached to confer awards during the Republic Day and National Unity Day celebrations, separately.
During the official reception to mark the 54th Republic Day of the Maldives in November, 117 recipients were conferred the National Award for Public Service.
This leaves 106 recipients who will be awarded at the Unity Day function on Sunday.
The reception will also see a minute of silence observed in remembrance of the lives lost during the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004.
A special video report on the exemplary services of the late Umar Zahir, honoree of the Order of the Distinguished Rule of Izzuddin, will also be featured at the function.
