In the coming two years, the Federal Foreign Office will support the United Nations “Equal Access to Justice” programme for the reform of the Maldivian judicial sector with around 330,000 euro. The signing of the relevant agreement will take place today (25 May) in the office of President Mohamed Nasheed. Apart from Jens Plötner, German Ambassador to the Maldives, representatives of the United Nations will also take part. Ambassador Plötner said that an independent and reliable Maledivian judicial sector was of central importance to the success of the still young democratic experiment.

The project was conceived of in talks between the Maldivian President and the German Government and is aimed at strengthening the performance of the judicial sector in the Maldives. The project is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, the relevant government authorities and non-governmental organizations.

With the first free elections in 2008, the Maldives became a democracy. Led by newly elected President Nasheed, the government of the mostly Islamic country has initiated an exemplary process of reform. With the latest constitutional reforms in particular, the young Republic has achieved significant progress with regard to the strengthening of democratic and rule-of-law structures.