Initiatives

Human Rights Candidature
Months of speculation whether or not the Maldives will succeed in its first outing to win a seat in a major UN body ended today with the endorsement by the Group of Asian States of the Maldives’ candidature to the Human Rights Council.

47-member Un Human Rights Council elections are hotly contested elections except for the seats in the UN Security Council. Each year, about 17 members are elected for a three-year term, from five regional groupings, namely Asia, Africa, Latin America, Western Europe and Eastern Europe.

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of the Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
The Government of Maldives will submit a special report on the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of the Discrimination Against Women to the United Nations.

The reservation submitted by the Maldives in 1999 restricts the application of Article 7(a) of CEDAW Article 7 under which States Parties commit “to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country and, in particular, shall ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right: (a). to vote in all elections and public referenda and to be eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies”. This article was considered incompatible with Article 34 of the 1998 Constitution of the Maldives which established a gender bar preventing women from running for President.