MALDIVES: Second Policy Roundtable on Marine Litter Prevention

The Maldives Second Policy Roundtable on Policy Solutions Prototyping for Marine Litter Prevention was held on 06 June 2022 at The Maldives National University, Male’, Maldives.  The meeting was attended by 31 participants from a wide range of stakeholders. This multi- stakeholder event observed a very active participation from different ministries, President's Office, other government entities and state-owned enterprises, development organizations, NGOs, corporates and academia.

This is part of the series of policy roundtables with an aim to prototype policy solution mechanisms for pressing challenges in the prevention of marine litter. Three policy roundtable meetings are planned focusing on, Defining challenges (1st), Solution prototyping (2nd), and Public showcasing (3rd). Each roundtable feeds in inputs to the next one to prototype potential policy solution mechanisms that can help national policymakers to include in the overarching marine litter prevention policies.

Building on the first policy roundtable meeting (Defining Challenges) held on 22nd March 2022 identifying challenges and gaps in the current policies of Maldives to prevent marine litter, the second policy roundtable is a continuation of this. The second meeting focused on policy benchmarking (best cases) and discussion around potential adaptation to the Maldivian context, followed by the design and development of the policy prototype solutions (mechanisms) for the prioritized challenges and gaps with the intended target audience in mind.

The meeting commenced with a recap of the outcome of the first policy roundtable followed by examples of policy solution mechanisms and best practices. Participants were then introduced to the tools that would apply for prototyping solutions before distributing them into groups. The original four groups from the initial meeting were maintained with the same members and new participants allocated to the same groups.  One challenge from the prioritized challenges was selected and discussion continued to deliberate on the challenge-Solution Fit, Mechanism Visualization and producing a Policy Prototype Blueprint. The working sessions were facilitated by Mr Amarnath Munnolimath, Senior Manager from Adelphi, Germany together with the project team from the Maldives National University and Parley Maldives. 

The following solutions were selected and discussed as a means to tackle marine litter and waste management challenges.

• Restructuring of Single Use Plastic Phase out Committee with formation of nodal agency
• Development of an Online information & matchmaking platform for waste policies and services
• Refining the policy formulation and implementation process including needs assessment & monitoring and evaluation systems
• Launching a nationwide waste management campaign as 'Mindful Citizens' for awareness on waste and its implications to our oceans

The outcomes of the discussions and a policy prototype blue prints developed were presented by each group at the end of the sessions. This was followed by discussions of the next steps and session feedback. The third policy roundtable of Maldives on public showcasing of the policy solutions is planned to be held at the end of this year.