units in the atolls are also involved in the detention of children at the Maafushi Education and Training Centre, run by the Ministry of Education and the Maldives Police Service. It does not, however, appear to have any influence over the detention of children at the institution in Feydhoo Finolhu apart from having a representative in the Juvenile Justice Coordination Committee which decides on the commission of children to the institution and their release from it. The broadness of the Department’s mandate has created a high level of vagueness in defining its role as well as the limits of its authority. The Children’s Department of the Health Ministry is itself not satisfied with the current status quo, and key officials agreed that a clearer mandate would facilitate the process of not just children’s participation but also a more integrated approach towards realising all rights afforded to children in the UNCRC. Ministry officials, at least at the top-level, are fully aware of State obligations under the UNCRC. The Deputy Minister of Health and Family, for instance, was pleased with the recent decision by the Maldives to join South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVEC). The organisation’s activities show that it values the participation of children in key decisions that would shape both the children’s, and the organisation’s, future. A section of its website is dedicated to children14, and it has also already held technical consultations among children of the eight member states on issues related to children’s participation and their other rights15. The Ministry is confident that membership of the organisation would motivate the establishment of similar participatory mechanisms for children in the Maldives. Ministry officials referred to several occasions during which children were consulted at various locations across the country in the processes of drafting regulations, policies and other documents. Such involvement, however, is not written policy and is, therefore, instigated by the Ministry on an ad hoc basis. Ministry officials agreed that a written policy, which requires children’s participation as part of key decision-making processes of the Children’s Department, would contribute substantially towards creating a culture in which children’s participation is sought and valued as standard procedure in the formulation and implementation of legislative and policy matters that affect children’s lives. Without a written policy, it is also difficult to measure how much importance the Ministry, and specifically its Children’s Department, accords to children’s participation as guaranteed by the UNCRC. Indeed, as of yet the Ministry has not made any effort to measure, or study, the level of children’s participation in the making of key decisions that affect their lives be it within the Ministry or in general society in a standardised manner. Legislative and policy instruments The 2008 Constitution of the Maldives, while recognising that children need special care and protection, does not make any specific provisions to facilitate their right to participate in decision14 SAIEVAC, “Child Friendly SAIEVAC”, Accessed at: http://saievac.info/index.php?page=content&id=50 on 15 November 2011 15 SAIEVAC, “Child participation-SAIEVAC Technical Consultation”, 25 September 2011, accessed at: http://saievac.info/index.php?page=eventdetails&eid=13 on 15 November 2011 12