1. Executive summary For these are all our children. We will all profit by, or pay for, whatever they become. – James Baldiwn This report is an assessment of how much the newly democratic Maldivian State and society knows of children’s rights to participation as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The Maldives became a signatory to the convention in 1990, the transition to democracy followed 18 years later in 2008. How much has the rights enshrined in the Convention been realised in the intervening years? More to the point of this study, how much knowledge of the rights has the Maldivian State acquired in those years, and how much awareness has been created amongst the general public since the treaty was signed? Has the knowledge increased since the transition to democracy? Have new mechanisms of participatory governance that is the hallmark of democracy made Maldivian society more aware of its obligations to children? This study provides some answers to these questions by reviewing policy documents that were introduced in the years before transition to democracy, and the new mechanisms and policies that have been introduced since. The report shows there are very few policy and legislative mechanisms that formally require children’s participation in decisions that affect their lives. There is no standalone State institution with a mandate for working towards the realisation of children’s rights. Nor is there an independent institution such as a Children’s Ombudsman that works towards assuring their rights. The 2008 Constitution itself lacks a provision for such mechanisms, and so does the Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child (91/9). Interviews with State officials show that while many are not fully cognisant of the philosophical underpinnings of children’s rights to participation enshrined in Article 12 and other participatory rights extended to children in the UNCRC, there are many who are. These officials are keen to consult and include children in the decision-making processes that affect children’s lives, and on many instances, do so. However, without such consultations with children adopted as formal policy, it is difficult to measure their implementation. Lack of standardised procedures also means that such inclusive mechanisms are often ad hoc and arbitrary. The policy review also shows that new laws being drafted since the transition to democracy in areas that specifically target children such as the Juvenile Justice Bill and the Minimum Standards at Institutions of Alternative Care, for example, are progressive and measure up to international standards expected of modern democracies. However, for several reasons—such as lack of resources, lack of political will, a dearth of qualified professionals, and deliberate obstruction through political partisanship—stand in the way of their ratification and/or implementation. The report reveals wide gaps in various areas between policy and legislative instruments and their realisation in praxis. Using up-to-date methodologies for measuring participation developed and applied by the Council of Europe in 2011 as a guide, this study also assesses knowledge of children’s rights to participation 1