| Abstract: | The economic and socio-political situation of Maldives has been more stable in 2016. UNICEF Maldives started implementation of its new Country Programme (CP) 2016 – 2020) this year. The basic services such as free and compulsory education and universal free health care to all continued during the year. Few key developments during the year included Government's development of a National Human Rights Framework under the auspices of the Attorney General’s office with support from UN agencies. This is aimed at addressing recommendations from the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) UPR, concluding observations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the recommendations of the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. UNICEF worked closely to ensure all concluding observations are duly reflected. Further, the Government has now guaranteed 14 years of free and compulsory education including early childhood education for all children. UNICEF Maldives’s pivotal role was in advocating for the importance of Early Childhood Education, and the transition to secondary education. Higher secondary education, which was not previously accessible in all the islands across the country, will now be made accessible to all adolescents, especially in remote islands. Another major change in the country is the increased awareness and commitment to address disparities and inclusion through social protection mechanisms. Through UNICEF's support, a review of the social protection framework has been undertaken and the targeting mechanism strengthened to include vulnerable children as well as people with disabilities, thereby increasing “coverage of children with disabilities. Key achievements for UNICEF Maldives country office included development of an e-learning platform for continuous professional development of teachers, especially those in far and hard to reach islands, for improved classroom instruction aimed at improving learning achievements of children. Further, a policy framework for provision of alternative education programmes has been developed, giving opportunities for vocational training for out of school children and those at risk of dropping out. Additionally, timely reporting and response to Violence against Children (VAC)especially from far and hard to reach islands has been enhanced through development of a mobile application with a call-center. This has been further strengthened by the established multi-sectoral Community Social Groups at island-levels responding to vulnerabilities including VAC cases, a key milestone in data generation on vulnerabilities at island community levels, informing programs at national level. Furthermore, the endorsement of the five year Child Health Strategy and action plan is notable, providing strategic directions for quality equitable child health services in the country. Despite the key results achieved, few challenges included continuous changes in political
appointments calling for continuous briefings and advocacy to the new appointees. This, to a large extent, takes time and causes delays in decision-making and implementation. Secondly, the long pending bills - the Child Rights Bill and the Juvenile Justice Bill are still awaiting submission to the parliament, despite several high-level advocacies efforts. Finally, the high cost of implementation and monitoring of programs at island levels, especially the far and difficult to reach continues to be a great challenge. This is coupled with the low capacity of staff both at national and island levels, and low presence of CSOs in the country, more so at the island community levels. UNICEF Maldives continued to foster partnerships with different agencies supporting delivery of results for children. This involved partnerships with UN agencies for various initiatives including the development of the National Human Rights Framework under the Attorney General’s Office, and development of the UN inter-agency Contingency Plan and preparedness plans. In addition, the implementation of the One-UN Low Emissions Climate Resilient Development Programme continued. UNICEF Maldives supported building capacities of Island Communities in Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction. Further, in collaboration with WHO Maldives ensured the global Polio Switch was successfully implemented in Maldives, contributing to the global polio eradication plan. In addition, UNICEF Maldives supported development of a behavior change communication strategy to promote inclusion of children with disabilities in education was developed in partnership with the NGO Care Society. Notably, UNICEF within its upstream strategy has worked closely with Government at National and island community levels, focusing on those with high disparities as compared to the capital Male, to increase results for children, especially the most disadvantaged. |
