In collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the National Assembly organized a workshop for the Secretariat and Members of the National Assembly. The one day workshop was held on Thursday 29th November 2007 at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS). The former speaker of the National Assembly of Mauritius, the Honourable Dev. Ramnah was the workshop facilitator.

The workshop’s aim was to assess the needs of the National Assembly, with regards to both the Secretariat and the Parliamentary Members. The Needs Assessment will provide information towards the drafting of a Project Document to be submitted to the UNDP as a proposal for support of Capacity Building of the National Assembly of Seychelles.

During the workshop Hon. Dev Ramnah had the opportunity to meet and discuss with the members and staff of the National Assembly. Also present, were media and civil representatives, as well as the UNDP representative Ms. Rebecca Lousteau-Lalanne.

The workshop started off with the UNDP representative, Ms. Lalanne giving an introductory speech, which was followed by the Speaker’s opening speech. Hon. Dev Ramnah then proceeded to give an overview of the workshop which was then followed by discussions amongst participants. The second half of the workshop day was dedicated to workgroup discussions followed by short presentations on the proposal and suggestions formulated by each group.

Four main areas were discussed and covered by the groups regarding the different functions of the Parliament, namely the Representative, Legislative and Oversight Functions. The fourth area of discussion was that of ‘Media outreach in Parliament and the importance of a strengthened Secretariat.’ All four groups then gave a small report of their discussions to the Hon. Dev Ramnah.

In his opening speech, the Hon. Mr. Speaker said with regards to the UNDP’s support, that the workshop ‘is of the utmost importance to the effective development of the National Assembly and further testimony of the excellent partnership that exists between our two organisations.’