President takes part in sports festival held ahead of Viavathi Raajje Conference

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has taken part in the sports festival held ahead of the 3rd Viavathi Raajje Conference.

The sports festival was held at the Laamu Gan Zone Stadium and the beach area of the island, on Saturday evening.

President Solih kicked off the sports festival and participated in the activities organized as an icebreaker for conference attendees.

The participants were divided into teams, and the activities included beach volleyball, obstacle runs and other sports that were meant to foster open-ness and cooperation amongst the attendees.

Government ministers, members of the Local Government Authority (LGA), representatives from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Republican Institute (IRI), technical experts, along with officials from local Councils participated in the activities.

The third conference of “Viavathi Raajje” will include city council mayors, island council presidents and presidents of Women’s Development Committees (WDC) from the southern atolls of Maldives: Dhaalu, Thaa, Laamu, Gaafu Alif, Gaafu Dhaal Atolls, Fuvahmulah City and Addu City.

The President is joined at the conference by government ministers, Parliament members of the southern atolls, policy executives from the President’s Office, and technical experts from various institutions including state-owned enterprises. As such, over 270 individuals will be participating in this two day conference, along with 107 council members and WDC representatives.

The conference would be held from September 11-12, 2022. As such, the two-day conference will feature four sessions with presentations and discussions on a variety of topics. These include gender equality, the formulation of land-use plans, fiscal autonomy of local councils and social welfare.

President's Office highlights that these sessions will allow the council and WDC members from the southern atolls to directly present their concerns to the President and collaborate on solutions with relevant parties.

"Viavathi Raajje" is a conference series hosted by the President in order to strengthen the decentralization system in light of the previous year’s experience of collaborating with relevant stakeholders.

President Solih signed the eighth amendment to the Decentralization Act into law on December 15, 2019, at the first edition of the "Viavathi Raajje" conference, authorising more fiscal and legal autonomy for local councils.