Minister of Gender and Family Zeneesha Shaheed Zaki has highlighted the efforts of Maldives in empowering the girl child in all aspects of life. The gender minister made the remarks at the ceremony held by Maldives Girl Guides Association to celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child.
Addressing the function, Gender Minister Zeneesha Shaheed Zaki stated the importance of celebrating the girl child and their potential. In this regard, the gender minister said the importance of celebrating such a day is to empower girls and to fight off the issues and challenges faced by them across the world.
Furthermore, Gender Minister Zenysha expressed efforts are underway to ensure women are empowered in the job industry and given chances to work in the management level. The minister, with gratitude, noted the achievements of girls in the international arena in all sectors.
Noting that compared to older times, there are girls working in all sectors, Minister Zenysha said girls have achieved a lot in the recent years. Moreover, speaking on the violence towards girls, the minister assured efficient works are being done to minimise and eliminate these types of violence.
During the ceremony, Minister Zeneesha launched a video compiled by the Maldives Girl Guides Association in collaboration with Ministry of Environment and Energy and United Nations Population Fund. Meanwhile, Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim launched an activity pack of Maldives Girl Guides Association, Team Girls, which will be conducted in schools of Maldives.
International Day of Girls is an international observance day declared by the United Nations. The observation supports more opportunity for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender. This inequality includes areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and unfree child marriage. The celebration of the day also reflects the successful emergence of girls and young women as a distinct cohort in development policy, programming, campaigning and research.