ARC's Stakeholder Conference on Children's Shelters 2012 will take place on 29 January 2012 (Sunday) at Mookai Suites, Male', participated by representatives from the three state-run children's shelters, relevant government bodies and the President's Office.
The Stakeholder Conference is organised by ARC to seek ways to identify how it may assist in finding possible solutions for the challenges faced by the shelters by providing a platform for open dialogue, and thus, subsequently leading to better coordination and information-sharing amongst concerned authorities.
Since its inception, ARC has been working closely with the three shelters currently in place for children under state care are; Kudakudhinge Hiya in Villimale, the Education and Training Centre for Children (ETCC) in K. Maafushi and the Correctional Training Centre for Children (CTCC) in K. Feydhoo Finolhu. The shelters are home to over 120 children from difficult backgrounds, ranging from 0 – 18 years.
The conference will feature one presentation by each shelter and their responsible agency, identifying their administrative constraints and the various day to day challenges that they face, followed by questions and answers. As ARC, in coordination with the management of the shelters is also currently working on preparing project proposals to seek funding to meet the different needs of the shelters, the final segment of the conference will include acquiring pledges in the form of sponsorships or donations, to organise different programmes for the children, as well as to meet the shelters' training requirements and staff shortage.