The Government of the Maldives and the United Nations (UN) have signed a project document titled, “Protecting Women and Children: Digitalizing and Streamlining Social Services and Creating a Unified Platform for National Care”.
The project document was signed between the Maldives and the UN at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 21. The project document was signed on behalf of the Maldivian government by Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid, and on behalf of the UN by UN Resident Coordinator in the Maldives Catherine Haswell.
According to a joint press statement released following the signing of the project agreement, the project will enable the Maldives to recover better from the COVID-19 pandemic and align the Maldives’ road to recovery with progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main objective of this project is to strengthen shock-responsive social protection benefits and services to protect women and girls from falling into poverty, and to safeguard them from violence in prolonged socioeconomic and emergency situations, such as the global pandemic. Funded by the global UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Multi-Partner Trust Fund, the project will be implemented jointly by the government, UN agencies and civil society organizations, with a total budget of USD 452,500.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid highlighted the government’s firm commitment to protect the most vulnerable groups in our population and noted that a large proportion of the government’s revenue has been spent on the socioeconomic response to this global pandemic. The minister also thanked the UN Secretary-General for the access to the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund and expressed gratitude that the Maldives is one of the few countries that were able to receive support twice under this Multi-Partner Trust Fund. He also acknowledged the hard work of the UN Country Team and the stakeholders’ team that worked behind the scene.
In her remarks at the event, the UN Resident Coordinator Catherine Haswell reaffirmed the UN’s commitment to strengthen the social protection system to help the most vulnerable Maldivians. She also stated that the UN Maldives aims to work closely with all stakeholders for a bigger impact in the country’s road to an inclusive, sustainable recovery.