Minister of Gender, Family, and Social Services Aishath Mohamed Didi has called for more women to be involved in community building. She made the remarks in her speech at the ceremony held on the occasion of International Women's Day.
At the ceremony, Minister Didi highlighted that women makeup half of the population and therefore should have more involvement in the workings of their community. The minister said more women should be involved in the work to mitigate climate change and its effect on the country and the thoughts and opinions of women should be heard.
She highlighted that women and children are usually the victims in the increasing number of domestic abuse cases and that they are also the most affected by other social issues and natural disasters. As such, she said more women should be involved in policy-making decisions in order to ensure all voices are heard.
Furthermore, Minister Didi said more work needs to be done to solve the issues faced by Maldivian women in order to fully implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. She noted the government approved a gender equality action plan and ensure the implementation of the gender equality policy drawn up under the Gender Equality Act. She said President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih being named as chairman of the steering committee established to ensure the implementation of the gender equality action plan shows his commitment to the issue.
She added that local councils will begin implementing their responsibilities regarding gender equality in June.